A Shinigami in Sunnydale
by fmfan1980
Summary: Ichigo leaves Japan for school in Sunnydale, CA. USA. What's the worst that could happen? (A re-editing of my original ASiS story. Rewriting most of the story, so updates would be a little slow.)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters, locations or plots from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer or Bleach. They are the properties of Mr. Whedon and Tite Kubo. This is just a work of fiction so yes I have made (and will make in the future) some changes to the details for each show. In other words, this entire piece is AU. All reviews are welcome.

 **Series:** Occurs after the Lost Agent arc for Bleach and in Season 5 of BtVS.

 **Karakura Town, Japan**

Ichigo Kurosaki had to face many things throughout his young life; from losing his mother when he was just a boy to growing up with his sisters and a crazy father to becoming a substitute shinigami, losing his powers during the Winter War against Sosuke Aizen, and then regaining his power once again thanks to a group called Xcution. Now, as he stood looking out at Karakura Town in his revamped shinigami uniform this still night when now a tree was rustling around him, he closed his eyes as he tried to sense for any hollows.

"Ichigo!" said the raven haired female shinigami who just appeared behind him.

"Rukia," said Ichigo as he looked over his shoulder at the Shinigami who had started him on this path years ago.

"What are you doing, Ichigo?" asked Rukia as she went to stand next to him, looking over the city.

"Trying to sense for hollows," said Ichigo as Rukia started to laugh.

"You know you suck at that, right?" said Rukia.

"Oh shut up," replied Ichigo, "Doesn't mean I can't try right?"

"True," said Rukia smirking.

"So what are you doing here Rukia?" said Ichigo softly, "Inoue asked you to come talk to me?"

"She told me what you are planning to do," said Rukia, her smirk turning into a frown as she looked at Ichigo, and then back out at the city again.

"So what did she say?" asked Ichigo.

"That you're planning to leave Japan soon," said Rukia as she crossed her hands over her chest while standing next to the orange-haired Shinigami, "that you got admitted to an American university in a city called Sunnydale."

"That's all true," replied Ichigo as he looked at the raven haired young woman standing next to him, "it's something I need to do. Even though my grades in high school are good, I still have to wait until next year before I can reapply to an university. The whole thing with Ginjo kinda made me lose track of what I have to do in the world of the living."

"Work part time then," said Rukia, "plus there are as many hollows in Japan as there are in America, you know."

"I know, I thought about taking part-time jobs here," said Ichigo nodding his head in agreement before he sighed, "but that would mean taking some dead end jobs that I'll be miserable at."

"The truth is" continued Ichigo, "Inoue got into one of the best university's in Japan, and I'll be behind her by a year. I'm just scared that she'll think I'm some sort of a failure."

"Well you are an idiot," said Rukia to a surprised Ichigo, "but not in the way you think. Do you really think that she's that shallow? Do you think that just because you're a year behind that she'll think you're an idiot? I think that she'll think you're an idiot just because you think that you're an idiot."

"What?" said Ichigo confused as he looked over at Rukia who was looking at him.

"You know what I mean," said Rukia as she looked away, "Idiot."

"I'm leaving tomorrow," said Ichigo quietly.

"What?!" shouted Rukia as she turned her head sharply to him, "does she know?"

"No," said Ichigo shaking his head.

"Oh, you are such an idiot" exclaimed Rukia while she waved her hands about, "how could you?"

"Only my dad and my sisters know," said Ichigo, "well now so do you. I…. I just can't face her.. just to see the disappointment in her eyes. I'll be there for only a year and then I'll come back, and then I'll start fixing this whole mess I'll be leaving behind."

"You really are an idiot Ichigo Kurosaki," said Rukia as she flash stepped away into the sky before she turned around and looked down at him, "and a jerk."

Ichigo could only sigh as Rukia took off again, leaving him standing alone before he whispered to himself with a hint of sadness in his voice, "I know."

 **Karakura Airport, the next day, 10:00 am.**

"Ichigo," said Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's father and former Shinigami, as he tilted his head to the left.

Ichigo turned to his left to see who else, but the friends he was set to leave behind without even a word of goodbye; Inoue, Chad, Tatsuki, Uryu, Mizuiro, Keigo, all of them were followed by Rukia in a red blouse and jeans who was walking alongside Rukia, Renji, and Urahara.

It was Ichigo's childhood friend Tatsuki who walked up to him first, "Ichigo," she exclaimed just before giving him a very hard punch on his face, "you idiot."

"Tatsuki Chan," said Inoue as she looked on surprised at the pathetic looking face that Ichigo had given his oldest friend. She saw the orange haired young man glanced over at her while rubbing his cheek before he looked away, and then looked at Tatsuki again.

"Tatsuki," said Ichigo who was trying to hide that he was suddenly feeling sorry for having had tried to leave without saying a goodbye; however, with Ichigo being who he is, he wanted to remain the tough Shinigami that they had known him for. So he hid the pathetic face he had made before looking at Tatsuki and frowned, "what was that for?"

"Oh you know what that was for you double-crossing moronic idiot," said Tatsuki as Chad and the others tried to hold her back from attempting to pummel Ichigo who had to take a step back.

"How could you even leave without saying goodbye to your friends?" continued Tatsuki as she calmed down, "not to mention how poor Inoue must be feeling."

"Can I speak to Inoue alone?" said Ichigo when he looked at Inoue. The both of them looked at each other while Ichigo remembered everything they had been through during the Winter War, and then the loss of his powers and the period after regaining them. He remembered the times the both of them had gotten closer and closer to each other; he looked at the eyes that were looking back at him, and then at her lips, and back to her eyes again... the eyes that belonged to the woman who he knew would forgive him no matter what. And now, he started to feel even worse at not having told Inoue; however this was precisely the reason he didn't want her, of all people, to come see him off; if he saw her again before leaving, then he may not want to leave.

"Hey look," said Ichigo's younger sister, Karin, "let's get some snacks… come on guys lets go get Ichi-nii something for the flight. Each person gets something delicious."

Soon everyone had gone leaving just Ichigo and Inoue alone, at least for a few more minutes

"Kurosaki-kun," said Inoue gently as she stepped forward and looked up at the young man, "Rukia-san told me why you're going to America."

"I kinda guessed that," said Ichigo softly while nodding his head.

"If that's how you really feel, then you should go," said Inoue to a surprised Ichigo, "just know that I would never have thought any less of you if you stayed here."

"I... I know, but I still need to do this Inoue," said Ichigo as he stepped forward and held her hands. He placed a hand on her cheek and then he ran his hand through her wavy burnt orange hair as he pulled her in for a tight hug.

"I'm sorry for being such an idiot," said Ichigo.

"You should have told me Kurosaki-kun," whispered Inoue into his ear, "I'd have understood."

"I'll be back in a year," said Ichigo, "I promise."

"Ok," said Inoue as she stepped back smiling.

"Hey lovebirds," said Renji as he approached the couple with the others.

"Renji," said Ichigo as he shook the hands of the head haired Shinigami, "sorry about all this."

"Nah," said Renji, "but you do it again, Rukia said she'll use her Zanpaktou and freeze you solid."

"And then I'll crack the ice with you still in it," said Tatsuki as she and Karin handed him a bag of treats.

"Hey," said Ichigo as he looked inside the bag full of snacks and other treats, "it's not like I'm going to the moon or something."

"Kurosaki-san," said Urahara, the sandal-wearing man looking at him while leaning on his cane, "You have your Substitute Shinigami pass with you?"

"Yea," he said.

"May I have it?" said Urahara as he reached out with one of his hands.

"O...k" replied a confused Ichigo as he reached into his pocket and handed his mentor the pass, "What are you going to do with it?"

"The Soul Society Research division has come up with an universal translator," said Urahara as he stuck what looked like a chip on to the substitute badge before handing it back to Ichigo, "keep the badge on you at all times and it should automatically translate whatever words you hear into your native language."

"Oh that's cool," said Ichigo as he took back the badge from Urahara and then put it back into his pocket.

"And here's a mobile phone," said Urahara as he reached into his pocket and took out a grey colored flip-phone that had a bunny charm dangling from one side, a charm that caught the Rukia's wide eyes. Ichigo heard her whisper 'Chappy', the name of the bunny charm on the phone that Ichigo was frowning at before he looked at the grinning Urahara.

"You're joking, right?" asked Ichigo as he pointed at the charm, "this is..."

"The speed dials are all set to your house here, Inoue-San's home, the Soul Society telephone exchange and most importantly, my store. In case of emergencies, you understand," said Urahara as he interrupted Ichigo before pointing at the Chappy charm, "and that is one of only a hundred charms ever made... it's quite rare, Kurosaki-san."

"Fine," sighed Ichigo as he looked at the charm before he snapped his head back up at Urahara, "wait, Soul Society telephone exchange?"

"In case you need to call Kuchiki-san or Abarai for help," said Urahara.

"Nah, what are the odds of something happening in a town with the name Sunnydale?" mumbled Ichigo shaking his head while putting the phone into his pocket with his left hand.

"Be very careful Kurosaki-san," said Urahara as he took on a more serious look, "Soul Society has been keeping a watch on that town, but so far nothing world threatening has happened yet. Call us if it's really bad"

"Thanks, Urahara-san," said Ichigo as he accepted the mobile phone, 'why would Soul Society be watching that town anyway?'

Just then came the announcement that Ichigo's flight was ready to be boarded in forty-five minutes. After listening to the woman speaking over the PA system, Ichigo turned back towards Urahara and asked, "wait, why has Soul Society been keeping watch?"

"You'll find out," replied Urahara with a grin. Ichigo scowled at the fishhat wearing man who was waving his hand with a smile on his face, "don't worry, Kurosaki-san, if there was anything that affects the blance between the world of the living and the dead, then Soul Society would have intervened."

Ichigo sighed shaking his head before turning away form Urahara and turning towards Inoue.

"Goodbye Kurosaki-Kun," said Inoue rushing forward and hugging Ichigo. She then looked up at him before leaning forward to give the substitute Shinigami a deep kiss which left him red faced and had the others look around into space nervously. Isshin had to cover the eyes of both his younger daughters while the kiss was going on.

"Wow," said Ichigo as Inoue broke the kiss and gave him a smile; the both of their faces red.

"I'll miss you Kurosaki-Kun," said Inoue before stepping back.

"I'll call you once I'm at my host family's home," said Ichigo as he looked at both Inoue and his family.

"I'll probably meet up with you there sometimes," said Renji.

"You will?" said Ichigo.

"Sure, why not?" Renji replied with a shrug, "Rukia's got Karakura Town as her sector, maybe I'll request Captain Kuchiki he posts me at Sunnydale for few days or so. I haven't patrolled anywhere in America yet."

"That would be cool, Renji," said Ichigo as he went to give Tatsuki a hug.

"If you don't call me," his old friend said as she held him tight and whispered into his ear, "I'll go to Sunnydale and beat you up."

"As if you could," Ichigo jokingly replied while he stepped back out of the hug.

"Have you talked to the lady you'll be staying with?" said Isshin as he and his son faced each other, the older man having a serious face on him that contrasted with his usual joking self.

"Of course, I have," said Ichigo rubbing the back of his head, "her name is Joyce Summers and she has two daughters; the oldest is named Buffy, and she goes to the same university as me but will be living in the dorms. The youngest is named Dawn and she goes to the High School there."

"What kind of a name is Buffy?" asked Renji as he scratched the back of his head.

"It's a nice name," said Inoue nodding her head before turning her head back towards Ichigo, "you'll be staying with them only for one night?"

Ichigo nodded his head while replying, "yeah, I don't think their house would give me the privacy I need to patrol." Ichigo then rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "I mean, can you imagine she or her daughters coming into my room and seeing a dead body."

"You could always use Kon," Rukia said.

"Yeah, but I prefer the privacy of staying in the dorm," Ichigo shrugged, "besides, I'm getting a room just for me."

"So you'll have maximum privacy," Inoue said, her arms down while she clasped her hands together. It was just then that a female voice announced over the PA system once again in regards to the flight Ichigo was supposed to be boarding. Everyone listened, and after the announcement finished, Inoue looked back Ichigo with a small smile on her face, "Be... be good, Kurosaki-kun."

"I will," said Ichigo giving Inoue a small smile as he picked up his bags and got ready to go.

"Kurosaki," said Uryu with his arms crossed over his chest before dropping his arms to his side, and raising his right arm towards Ichigo, "Don't do anything stupid."

"Thanks for the uplifting speech, Ishida," said Ichigo sarcastically as he shook Uryu's hand.

"Be well Ichigo," Chad spoke in his characteristic deep voice. And Ichigo nodded at the tall, young man.

"I'll call you soon big guy," said Ichigo. He then waved at his family and friends before he turned and walked away to fly to a new city in another country.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Sorry I had made a mistake in the season of Buffy where this takes place. Its NOT season 4, its actually season 5 which was when Dawn was introduced. I've already made some minor changes in Chapter 1 to reflect that.

 **Sunnydale Airport, 9:00pm**

"Come on mom," whined Buffy as her mother, Joyce Summers, dragged her over to the airport to pick up one of the many international students who were part of U.C. Sunnydale's Host Family program, "why am I here? I'm supposed to be out patrolling tonight. You know all these things wont stop coming just because someone new is coming to town. Actually I think they increase."

"Buffy," frowned Joyce looking off to her side at her oldest daughter, "It's only proper to come and meet the young man who we'll be taking care off during the time he's here in Sunnydale."

"Yea Buff," said Dawn, "I bet he's cute"

"Dawn," said Buffy as she stared at her younger sister, "don't say things like that, you'll probably scare him back to Japan."

That response led Dawn to sticking her tongue out at Buffy before turning to their mother and asking her if she had already spoken to their guest.

"Actually," said Joyce, "I've already had the pleasure of talking to the young man and his father."

"Really?" asked Buffy, "so what's the news with him?"

"Well," said Joyce as she stopped walking once they had reached the Arrivals area, "maybe you should ask him when he comes in. But I know his dad owns a small family clinic, and he's got two younger sisters."

"What's his name again mom?" asked Dawn.

"Its… ah… hold on," mumbled Joyce as she reached for the name card that she had brought with her. Shuffling through the things in her bag, Joyce found what she was looking for, and held it in front of her chest, "Ichigo Kurosaki"

"Ichigo," said Dawn, "I like the name."

"You say that about everyone," whispered Buffy into her sister's ear, "I know how much you like Xander's name too"

"Buffy," said Dawn while her face became a shade of red

Just then, there was an announcement that a flight from Los Angeles had landed, and that it would be a few more minutes before it arrived at the gate.

"Seems like that's the flight Ichigo's on," Joyce explained after recognizing the flight number, "his dad emailed me his itinerary before he left. He was supposed to take a flight from Japan to L.A and then from there, he's supposed to be on this flight to Sunnydale"

"Cool," said Dawn with a smile on her face.

While Dawn, Buffy, and Joyce were waiting patiently in the Arrivals area; Ichigo waited impatiently on the plane as it taxied slowly to the gate area.

'Oh come on!' he thought to himself, 'this is so slow!'

He breathed a sigh of relief when ten minutes later, the plane stopped at the gate and the seat-belt light turned off, with the pilot then ordering that the doors be opened.

'Oh thank you so much!" thought Ichigo to himself as he quickly got up from his seat, stretched his arms over his head before stepping into the aisle, reaching up and then taking out his carry-on. He then waited in the aisle for the line of people to move forward and out of the plane. Finally, before he deplaned, he made sure that he had the substitute Shinigami badge with him inside the jacket her was wearing.

'Luckily no one other than those with a high reiatsu can see the badge,' he thought to himself, 'or else I'd have a lot of explaining to do to Mrs. Summers.'

With the line of people in the aisle slowly moving forward, Ichigo soon found himself at the gate area where he was looking up at the signs on the ceiling. Following the signs, he slowly made his way to the baggage claim section of the Arrivals area where Joyce said she'll be waiting with Buffy and Dawn to pick him up.

As Ichigo made his way to the baggage claim area, he looked around him and noticed the high number of ghosts that were present; some seemed to be walking around dazed and confused, others were looking over the shoulders of some of the living as they read newspapers or talked on their cell-phones, while other ghosts were just looking out at the planes taking off and landing. Ichigo noticed that some ghosts had broken necks, bloodied chests, while others had little marks on their necks.

"Hello," said a boy of about ten years of age who tugged on Ichigo's orange jacket.

"Hi," replied Ichigo as he looked down at the boy.

"You can see me can't you?" asked the boy.

"Yes I can," replied Ichigo before he frowned, "how come you haven't left this world?"

"Many of us are stuck here," the boy said looking over at all the other ghosts before turning back towards Ichigo.

"Isnt there a Shinigami in Sunnydale?" asked Ichigo, looking curiously at the boy.

"Whats that?" the boy asked while confusion was etched on his face.

"A Soul Reaper," Ichigo responder, "you might say he's like the grim reaper"

"Oh like the skleton and the scythe?" said the boy who perked up with eyes wide open while Ichigo looked on with a small smile on his lips.

"Actually…," said Ichigo before he quickly stopped himself. He glanced around and noticed some of the looks that peple were giving him, he even noticed a few police officers looking towards him, and he could have swore he heard some calling him a weirdo. Guesing that others would be wondering why he was talking into thin air, Ichigo reminded himself that he needed to get out of there.. so her turned back to the boy and walked slowly away while whispering, "tell you what, I'll come by later on and help you move on to the Soul Society"

"What's that?" asked the boy as he walked alongside him.

"It's heaven," whispered Ichigo.

"So you're a grim reaper too?" asked the boy.

"Kinda" whispered Ichigo at the boy before smiling at a young woman who walked past him. It was when he glanced back down at the boy, did Ichigo notice the boy's chain of fate was almost gone. There was only a short strand remaining and Ichigo knew that the remaining links in the chain would disappear soon, leaving only a hollow hole in his chest.

"I promise I'll be back here tonight," whispered Ichigo, "what's your name?"

"It's Jake."

"Alright Jake," nodded Ichigo, "I'll be back, in the meantime I need for you to relax ok"

"Okay," said Jake as he stopped walking while Ichigo continued, occasionally looking over his shoulder at the ghost boy, and nodded his head.

"I'll see you later, kid," whispered Ichigo as he walked towards the baggage area

' _There's something wrong with this town,'_ thought Ichigo to himself as he looked around at even more ghosts, _'maybe Urahara-san was right. And why isn't there a Shinigami here to take care of all of these ghosts? Don't tell me that there is a hollow infestation here because of these ghosts who haven't moved on.'_

As he was thinking about all the scenarios that could happen with any potential hollows, he found himself in the baggage area where there were a multitude of people waiting for new arrivals.

'Umm… Mrs Summers said that she'll be waiting here,' thought Ichigo to himself as he looked around the crowd of people, _'I wonder where she….. oh… there she is.'_

Ichigo gave a small wave to the blonde woman who was carrying a card bearing his name alongside two young women.

"Those must be her daughters," mumbled Ichigo to himself as he approached them, while giving a wave.

"Hey," said Dawn nodding at Ichigo walking towards them, "that must be him."

"You mean the young man waving to us?" said Joyce, "it could be, yeah it is…, he's coming towards us."

"What do you know?" said Dawn as she stared at Buffy, "he's cute."

"He's too old for you," smirked Buffy, "what's with his hair though, who on Earth keeps their hair orange and spiky."

"Come on girls," said Joyce as she looked at both her daughters as Ichigo got closer, "here he comes."

"Mrs Summers?" said Ichigo as he approached the group of three females.

"Hi Ichigo," said Joyce as she stepped forward, "please call me Joyce."

"OK, Joyce," said Ichigo nodding his head as he gave her a slight smile while shaking her hand

"And these are my daughters," said Joyce as she turned around and motioned to the girls standing behind her, "this is Buffy, my oldest daughter; and here's Dawn, my youngest"

"Nice to meet you Buffy, Dawn," nodded Ichigo as he gave them a smile before shaking their hands.

As he shook Dawn's hand though, he felt a feeling of electricity going up his hand and then up his arm.

' _What's going on?'_ thought Ichigo to himself as he continued to smile at Dawn

"Nice to finally meet you, Ichigo," Buffy said while shaking his hand and nodding over at Joyce, "mum was excited the past few days over meeting you."

"Thank you, Joyce," Ichigo looked over at Joyce and chuckled.

"Your English is pretty good," said Dawn.

"Dawn!" exclaimed Joyce and Buffy as they stared at the younger girl.

"What?" Dawn shrugged as she looked over at them confused, "I just gave him a compliment"

"Thank you Dawn," said Ichigo grinning, "I practised a lot."

"See," said Dawn before she turned back to face Ichigo, "I knew you'd take that as a compliment."

"I have," said Ichigo smiling as he thought to himself, _'thanks to Soul Society.'_

"Alright, Ichigo," said Joyce, "how about we go get your bags and then go home."

"Wouldn't it be better if we went directly to the dorms on campus?" said Ichigo, "I really don't want to trouble you by staying at your home for the night."

"Nonsense," said Joyce, "the dorm offices are closed by now, and you're not staying in a hotel when you have a host family here."

"Come on Ichigo," said Dawn as she grabbed a hold of his hand and pulled him towards the baggage claim conveyor belts.

"Dawn's excited," chuckled Buffy as she saw Ichigo struggling to keep up with her younger sister.

"He seems like a nice boy, don't you think?" asked Joyce and she looked at Buffy smiling.

"Come on mum" said Buffy turning her head over towards her mother while they continued following Dawn and Ichigo, "I already have Riley, and why are you trying to play matchmaker?"

"Well, Ichigo seems more of a normal boy than Riley, don't you think?" said Joyce as the both of them walked towards where Ichigo and Dawn were standing at the conveyor belt where one piece of luggage after another was doing their rounds, waiting for their owners to claim them.

"Yea, but then I love Riley," said Buffy, "and anyway, he's always there to help me during my patrols and he has the experience. Why do you want to subject a stranger to the supernatural?"

"I worry about you," said Joyce, "You need something stable in your life, and I'm not always going to be here you know"

"Oh come on, mom," sighed Buffy just as Dawn and Ichigo walked towards them after collecting his bags

"Joyce," said Ichigo interrupting the conversation between mother and older daughter, "I'm ready, and thank you again,"

"Nonsense, Ichigo," assured Joyce, "let's go home then, shall we?"

 **The Summers Residence, 10:00pm.**

"You have a very nice house," said Ichigo looking around the foyer, and then into the living room, as he stepped into the two storey house with his two bags. The young man could feel the warmth that was coming off the entire place before glancing over at Buffy and Dawn, and then at Joyce, who was behind him.

"Thank you, Ichigo," Joyce said as she closed the door behind her after Buffy and Dawn stepped inside the house. She then put her keys into a bowl on a table near the front door, and told Ichigo that for tonight, he was going to be sleeping in Dawn's room.

"Joyce," said Ichigo waving his hands, "It's alright, there's no need for further trouble. I can just take the couch."

"Come on, Ichigo," sighed Buffy as she helped pick up one of the bags as she started up the stairs, "trust me, there's no sense in trying to argue with my mother."

"Listen to her," said Joyce with a smile, "and don't worry, Dawn will be sleeping in my room."

"Umm… alright," said Ichigo as he picked up the other bag and followed Buffy up the stairs to Dawn's room

"Here it is," said Buffy after they made a left at the top of the stairs and then went to the end of the hallway. She opened the door, and stepped in before putting the bag she was carrying next to the bed in the room, "sorry about the 'Dawnness' of the room"

"Nah, its alright," said Ichigo shaking his head, "I have two younger sisters, Karin and Yuzu; their rooms are just like this."

"Neat," said Buffy, "maybe someday you can show us their pictures?"

"Sure," nodded Ichigo as he reached into his pocket and took out the phone handed to him by Urahara. "well once I've charged up my phone."

"You need a charger?" asked Buffy.

"I got one" said Ichigo nodding towards one of the bags, "but thanks though"

"Anyway," said Buffy as she turned towards the door, and then back to Ichigo, "I've actually gotta go out and meet some friends, hope you don't mind."

"Nah," said Ichigo shaking his head, "it's ok."

"You wanna come to a club called the Bronze? That's where I'll be meeting my friends," said Buffy while she thought to herself, ' _Please say no, Please say no, I'm actually going patrolling and I really don't need a civilian coming along.'_

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm already feeling the effects of jetlag," said Ichigo while he stifled a yawn, "thanks though"

' _I really need to get back to the airport and perform a soul burial for Jake,'_ thought Ichigo to himself, _'and the other ghosts too.'_

"Alright then," said Buffy, "have a good night; I guess I'll see you in the morning. How about I take you to the university dorms tomorrow?"

"Sure," replied Ichigo, "That would be great."

"Alright then," said Buffy as she left the room, closing the door behind her. She then walked to the top of the stairs, and then headed down to a frowning Dawn standing with her arms crossed over her chest looking up at her.

"You're flirting with him aren't you," whispered Dawn.

"Come off it Dawn," said Buffy shaking her head, "in case you've forgotten, I already have Riley. Plus, he's too old for you."

"Age can be overlooked," said Dawn.

"I'll tell mom," said Buffy.

"You wouldn't," replied Dawn, her eyes widened.

"Wanna bet?" said Buffy smirking while Dawn said that she wouldn't dare, which led to Buffy calling out, "Mom!" as Dawn looked on in horror.

"Yes?" said Joyce as she quickly walked out of the dining room.

"Guess what?" said Buffy as she stared at Dawn before grinning at her mother, "I'm going patrolling, I'll be back later"

"I'm gonna kill you for almost giving me a heart attack," whispered Dawn to Buffy.

"You wouldn't," smiled Buffy.

"You sure you have to go," asked Joyce, "maybe you should stay and keep Ichigo company?"

"He said he's going to sleep," said Buffy, "Jet lag."

"Oh," said Joyce.

"Anyway, I'll see you guys later then," said Buffy as she ran out the door.

A few minutes after Buffy had gotten out of the house, Ichigo walked down the stairs to see Joyce sitting on the couch with Dawn. The both of them were watching TV.

"Mrs. Summers…, I mean Joyce, sorry," said Ichigo sheepishly, "I'll actually be going to sleep, I think I'm suffering from jetlag."

"You should have a bite to eat Ichigo," said Joyce as she leaned forward, and was about to get up, when Ichigo reassured her he wasn't hungry.

"Thank you," said Ichigo stepping into the foyer, "but I don't think I can even lift my hand to my mouth, I'm that tired."

"If you're sure," said Joyce as she stared at Ichigo.

"Yes," nodded Ichigo, "Have a good night Joyce. Good night, Dawn."

"Good night," said Dawn and Joyce together before Ichigo ambled up the stairs. He then closed the door to Dawn's room and sat on the bed. As he was sitting down, he popped a circular looking pill into his mouth. The next thing he knew, he slipped out of his own body wearing his Shinigami uniform with Zangetsu strapped to his back.

"Kon," whispered Ichigo as he looked at his physical body, now occupied by the mod-soul known as Kon, "sleep, don't get out this room do you understand?"

"Why?" whined Kon, "come on, we're in America and all you can think about is work? I wanna go out and have fun. I heard that the girls here…."

"Not tonight Kon" frowned Ichigo, "we're in my host family's home, so you will behave yourself. I swear, if you leave this room in my body, I will flush you down the toilet. Or stuff you into one of these soft toys here."

"Ok, ok," said an exasperated Kon, he was in a new country.. and he wasn't allowed to go out, "I swear I won't leave this room"

"Good," said Ichigo as he opened the window, "I'll be back soon"

"Fine," said Kon as Ichigo used his flash step to leave the Summers house. However, Ichigo missed Kon's grin that was plastered on his face, "I did say I won't leave this room" said Kon to himself, "at least not until you've gone."

Then Kon, in Ichigo's body, opened the door and went down the stairs.

 **Sunnydale Airport, 11:00pm**

After a few flash steps, Ichigo reached the airport. As he looked down from where he was standing in the sky, he could sense great evil all around him.

"Seriously," he muttered to himself, "what is wrong with this city?"

Then all of a sudden, he heard a scream from outside the terminal building.

"Help me!" screamed a familiar voice from earlier that day.

Ichigo looked down towards the entrance and saw Jake being chased by three hollows.

Jake was running harder than he ever ran when he was alive. He recalled just hanging around the entrance for the guy with the orange hair, the one who said that he was the grim reaper, before he heard a horrifying scream behind him. Turning around, he heard one scream become two and then three screams. That was then that three white masked creatures landed in front of him. The three of them licked what looked to be their lips etched on their masks as they slowly moved towards him. Feeling a great sense of fear, Jake simply ran out of the airport building with the three masked creatures following him like a predator follows its prey just before pouncing and killing it.

All of a sudden, once he was outside, Jake felt a breeze and before he knew it he was being carried in the air. Looking down he could see and hear the three creatures snarling and growling.

"Hey kid," said Ichigo to Jake.

"It's you," said a surprised Jake, "you really came?"

"Of course, I promised didn't I?" smiled Ichigo at the ghost of the small boy, "Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute Shinigami, at your service."

"Thanks," replied Jake as Ichigo landed with him on the roof of the main terminal.

"Listen," said Ichigo, "I'll leave you on the roof top while I take care of those three alright?"

"OK," said Jake as he trembled.

"Be brave little man," said Ichigo, "I'll perform the soul burial right after they're taken care of, they can't be allowed to roam free. They could hurt other spirits."

Jake nodded his head before Ichigo flashed stepped towards the three hollows

Jake quickly ran to the edge of the roof where he saw Ichigo simply appear out of nowhere in front of the three creatures. He then saw Ichigo reached behind over his shoulder, and take out the largest sword he ever saw.

"Alright guys," said Ichigo with Zangetsu in his hand, "who's first?"

Just as he finished speaking two of the three hollows ran towards Ichigo just as the third hollow caught the scent of Jake who was on the roof.

"Shit," muttered Ichigo to himself as one of the Hollows ran towards Jake, "Stupid Ichigo."

Ichigo ran towards the two hollows coming towards him before he flash stepped over them and landed in front of the third one that was heading towards Jake. He then flash stepped toward the third one while at the same time drawing Zangetsu back and slashing the hollow's mask through with it.

"Two to go" said Ichigo to himself as the third Hollow disintegrated, before he flashed stepped towards the other two hollow and slashed the both of them easily with Zangetsu. "Ok" said Ichigo to himself as he put Zangetsu onto its rightful place on his back, "That was too easy."

"Maybe living here will always be like this?" said Ichigo as he turned back and flash stepped to the roof where he left Jake.

"That was cool!" exclaimed Jake excitedly.

"Alright kid," said Ichigo crouching down, "let's get you to Soul Society huh."

"Do I get to be like you?" asked Jake.

"Are you hungry?" asked Ichigo.

"Huh?" said Jake confused at the strange question, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just humour me," said Ichigo.

"Kinda," admitted Jake as he rubbed his abdomen.

"That means you have some spirit power," said Ichigo, "usually those spirits who become Shinigami can get hungry, which means that they have spirit power. If you can, look for Rukia Kuchiki when you get to Soul Society. She's a good friend of mine, and the lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division."

"I will," said Jake as he watched Ichigo take out his sword.

"Ready kid?" asked Ichigo.

"Yes." Jake nodded his head before Ichigo stamped his forehead with the hilt of Zangetsu.

"Goodbye kid," said Ichigo as Jake's body glowed blue before sinking into the rippling ground with a smile on his face, "Go to heaven already"

Once the soul burial was complete, Ichigo saw a black butterfly take off into the sky and disappear.

"This is strange," said Ichigo to himself as he took off and stood in the sky. He then flash stepped through the entire airport, but there was something strange – all the ghosts were gone. Once he was back high in the air, Ichigo muttered, "where are the other ghosts? I saw so many when I came in an hour ago."

Just then, Ichigo changed direction, turning around, quickly when he left a very strong reiatsu.

"What is that?" said Ichigo to himself as he flash stepped to where the reiatsu was coming from.

"This is a graveyard," said Ichigo to himself as he looked on below from where he stood in the air, "looks like the reiatsu is coming from that guy in the fancy clothes looking at the blonde haired girl,"

"Wait a second," continued Ichigo surprised as he looked on at the blonde, "Is that Buffy?!"

TBC.


	3. Chapter 3

**Graveyard, Sunnydale, 11:00pm**

"This is an unexpected development," said the fancy dressed man – he was wearing a vintage full sleeved shirt and trousers with a black cape billowing behind him thanks to the slight breeze. And from his vantage point, Ichigo could see that the man was pale… very pale. The man standing on the grass smirked as he sensed Ichigo looking down at him from the sky, and then looked up. His eyes focusing on the strawberry haired young man wearing black flowing garb with a white sash around his waist. Even against the dark sky, which seemed to hide the young man from view, the well-dressed man had to make sure he kept his focus on the strawberry hair.

"Who are you taking to?" said Buffy as she looked around and then up towards the sky above her before staring back at the man who introduced himself as Dracula, Buffy scoffed in disbelief upon hearing the man say that his name was Dracula, the infamous movie monster… at least that was the primary thought in Buffy's mind. Shrugging her shoulders as the man who identified himself as Dracula stood looking back at her, Buffy said, "since you're talking to yourself, I'd have to say that you're a crazy vampire…. Although I don't know how that's different to all the others... but still."

"Silence," hissed Dracula, who put an arm towards her with his forefinger pointed upwards. Buffy frowned as the man then looked back up at the sky above her, not seeing anything, before she looked back down at the man claiming to be Dracula slowly lowered his gaze – Buffy felt as if he was seeing something land next to her. And his eyes glared at the empty space beside her. She turned her head, keeping Dracula in her peripheral vision, but saw nothing there.

Although she did feel a chill going up and down her spine. But she told herself that feeling was thanks to the so-called Dracula staring at something that she couldn't see. Buffy then turned her head back towards 'Dracula' and said, "so… are you a crazy guy… or…"

"Silence," he hissed again. His eyes shifted towards her, and Buffy could see a hint of rage there. It would be a seconds later that those pale-yellow eyes shifted to the empty area to her left.

"Hey," said Buffy as she prepared a stake, her fingers tightening around the handle. She glanced to the space on her left once again before shifting her eyes back to 'Dracula'. There was sarcasm in her voice as she continued, "don't have a hissy fit."

"We will continue our little chat when we are alone my dear," said Dracula as he stepped forward and cupped her face. Buffy stood still as she felt cold fingers against her skin. She was looking into his eyes as her heart started to race, she felt herself starting to go numb. She felt as if she was falling while staring into these eyes. And then, just as he stepped back after removing his hands from her face, Buffy felt her head clear up.

"Uhhhh… yea… sure," said Buffy confused. She shook her head after remembering what 'Dracula' told her about continuing their chat once they were alone. She thought to herself, "what's going on with me? Why am I compelled to answer him?" And then she recalled the part about the both of them talking when they were alone. And it immediately made Buffy wonder to herself, 'I though w were alone. Don't tell me this guy is one of those vampire worshippers. I thought they all scrammed Sunnydale after that whole thing with Spike?'

While Buffy couldn't see him, Ichigo stood right next to Buffy. There were a million questions going through his head such as, 'who is this guy?' and 'Why is Buffy in a graveyard holding a stake in her hand'. But he pushed those questions aside for now while he focused on the man in front of him.

"Get away from her," Ichigo said while approaching Dracula with Zangetsu in his hand. 'It's strange,' Ichigo thought to himself, 'I feel some reiatsu coming from him but… there's something off. Its like he's trying to peek into my head.' Frowning Ichigo took a step forward and narrowed his eye's at the man, "stop it. Leave this place."

"Ah" said Dracula as he looked between Buffy and Ichigo, "looks like the Slayer has a guardian angel."

"Huh?" asked a very confused Buffy as she jumped a few feet back, away from Dracula. A larger field of view now, Buffy glanced all around her, but she saw no-one else. There was just her and the man claiming to be Dracula, "what are you talking about? What guardian angel? It's just you and me here."

"You cannot see him?" Dracula arched an eyebrow at the blonde Slayer before shaking his head and chuckling, "how unfortunate."

Hearing the name, Ichigo puled his head back while raising his eyebrows in surprise. He then leaned forward and narrowed his eyes to look closer at the man, 'ummm, pale, yellow eye, strange fancy clothes… looks like what that Bram Stoker guy wrote about in his story… could he be… that would explain this weird feeling I'm getting'. Despite what he was thinking, Ichigo knew of only one way to get the answers he was looking for. He simply had to ask the question, "did she just call you Dracula? As in vampire? The Prince of Darkness? Are you THAT Dracula?"

"I am he," said Dracula with an exaggerated bow before he stood up straight and tall once again.

"This is so cool," said Ichigo with an impressed expression on his face.

Dracula tilted his head at the note of surprise on the face and tone of voice of the young man. He himself knew of the Soul Reapers, in fact, he had seen several… especially after his feedings all over Europe.

"Hey" said Buffy, "You know what… it's kinda rude to ignore a slayer with a stake in hand."

"Ok, my mistake" said Ichigo as he turned and looked at Buffy, "What's a Slayer?"

"You don't know do you?" said Dracula.

"Dude!" shouted Buffy, "who are you talking to?"

"A Shinigami," said Dracula as he smiled at Buffy.

"A what? Origami?" said Buffy surprised as she looked around her but could not see anyone else.

"Hey," Ichigo yelled turning towards Buffy, "what do you mean by Origami?" He then heard Dracula chuckle while Buffy remained confused as she stared at Dracula. 'She can't see me,' Ichigo guessed before turning back towards Dracula who continued to talk.

"A Soul Reaper," Dracula clarified before his body turned to mist as soon as Buffy leapt forward to launch a surprise attack on him.

"A Soul Reaper?" Buffy said as her stake went right through where Dracula's chest would have been. Just then, as her back was turned, Dracula reformed behind her. At that same time, Ichigo watched as Buffy spun her elbow around and hit the vampire on the left side of his face, sending the Prince of Darkness flying backwards onto a headstone.

Ichigo walked towards Buffy as she brought up her stake, her legs bent – she was primed to dash forward while Dracula, with a smug look on his face, started to get back onto his feet. Ichigo was amazed at how fluid Buffy's moves were as she fought, although unsuccessful, which a look of amazement was etched onto his face. 'Who are you Buffy?' thought Ichigo to himself. He then tensed up once Dracula, turning to mist once again before Buffy could stake him, reformed behind her and immediately grabbed the right wrist which had the stake as it swung towards him. Dracula turned her around, twisting the wrist, forcing Buffy to drop the stake onto the grass before putting her into a choke hold.

"You are amazed are you not?" said Dracula as he looked at Ichigo while he tightened his grip around Buffy's neck.

"Not really, no," Buffy growled before she stamped down on his left foot, and then slammed the back of her head into Dracula's nose. Buffy then felt the fingers around her neck loosen, and she turned, kicked out at him. As Dracula stumbled back, Buffy rushed to the fallen stake. She dove, grabbed it, rolled on the grass, and then got back to her feet. She stared at Dracula, and then at the empty space next to her. She still felt a chill going up her spine.

While Buffy was glaring at Dracula, who was smugly smiling at her, she tried to come up with a plan of attack. Meanwhile, with Zangetsu in hand, Ichigo stood next to Buffy as he stared down Dracula, "You know what I am so you know what Shinigami can do. Get out of this place, or you'll feel the touch of my blade."

"You will not be able to protect her," said Dracula with a smirk at Ichigo.

"Hey I don't need protection, you overdressed clown," Buffy yelled as she glared at Dracula. However, she still felt that cold chill beside her. Buffy glanced at the empty space right next to her. She felt as if there was something there, she could feel it in her bones. With a look of confusion, Buffy turned back towards Dracula, 'gotta ask Giles about this Origami… no… not Origami… Ori… something.' Buffy smirked while continuing to think, 'fine, I'll talk to Giles about this Soul Reaper thing.' She then stared at the empty space next to her, 'though with what I'm feeling, I'm guessing it's really evil.' But then, Buffy thought to herself, this Soul Reaper wasn't attacking her.

Instead it seemed to be guarding her.

"She's right," said Ichigo as he stared at the look of confusion on Buffy's face, "she looks like she can take care of herself, but right here and right now," Ichigo turned his head towards the Vampire, "I'll take action if she's harmed."

"She'll be mine," hissed Dracula at Ichigo, "and you will not be able to do a thing. She will be mine willingly."

"Hey," said Buffy shaking her head, trying to get that feeling of dread out of her head, "I'm right here you know."

"Yes," said Dracula with a sinister smile, "Yes you are, but for now I will say farewell. Know this, you will be mine, Buffy Summers; you know in your dark heart that you will be mine."

"Get out of here," said Ichigo as he flash-stepped right to Dracula's face. Their faces just inches from each other. Ichigo could feel a chill go up and down his spine, even in soul form, as he glared into the eyes of the supposed king of all Vampires. But he kept his cool, instead, he radiated a little of his own reiatsu.

"Such power," said Dracula, sensing the energy simply coming off the young man, "I can smell it, raw and untapped. Just like her."

"Get out," said Ichigo, "Or else I'd have to show you my own darker nature." Then Ichigo stopped releasing his reiatsu and continued speaking, "believe me, you won't like my darker nature."

After what seemed like hours, Dracula sighed and stepped back. For Buffy she was staring in confusion – for a few seconds, the vampire calling himself Dracula just seemed to stare out into the distance. She even had to turn around and wonder what he was looking at before turning back towards the vampire again. She gripped her stake tightly, and was about to attack again when he suddenly stepped back with a chuckled.

"For now, I will withdraw," said Dracula as he gave a smile at something Buffy couldn't see, "but know this, Shinigami. I never fail Shinigami, she will be mine."

Buffy watched curiously as Dracula talked to an unseen being when suddenly he turned away from her and transformed into a bat before flying away.

"That was the weirdest thing I've ever, ever encountered," said Buffy to herself before she looked around. She was now along in the graveyard, the only things surround her were the rustling leaves on the trees that dotted the nearby area, and the headstones.

Feeling a chill, and not from the warm gentle breeze around her, Buffy said, "Soul Reapers. Don't tell me it's another big bad that's come to town."

"I'm not a big bad," said Ichigo as he turned around to face Buffy, who was, literally, looking right through him. "I know you can't see or hear me" said Ichigo as he looked into her eyes, "I'm curious now, what are you Buffy? What's a Slayer? Umm… maybe Urahara-san will know. Anyway, I'll try and help you when I'm not battling hollows; they are my responsibility after all." Ichigo then turned his head and stared at the direction the bat took off, "and it looks like vampires are your responsibility." Ichigo then turned back to Buffy and stared at the confused young woman who was turning around at the sound of a female voice calling her name. Seeing this as a time for him to leave, plus feeling strange spying on someone who would be his host-sister during his stay in the States, Ichigo whispered, "Good night Buffy. One day I'd like to talk to you about what a Slayer is. In the meantime, I guess I'll have to talk to Urahara."

Suddenly, Ichigo's eyes widened once he felt a reiatsu towards the South. He turned around, tightened his grip on Zangetsu's handle, jumped up into the sky, and then flash-stepped towards the direction of the Hollow. As he left, Ichigo looked back over his shoulder one more time. He watched the blonde girl looking around her surroundings as she scratched her head. Just then, two others… a young woman and young man… came into view as they rushed towards Buffy. Looking back in front, Ichigo dashed towards the other side of the city.

In the meantime, Buffy turned towards her best friend yelling out her name as she ran towards her. "Buffy!" shouted Willow who was followed closely by Xander – the three of them made up the original Scooby Squad of Sunnydale, "What happened?"

"Well," said Buffy as she spun around, her eyes scanning the area around her before turning back towards the redhead, "I just met Dracula."

"No way!" said Xander, "really? Dracula? Please tell me he said 'Let me suck your blooood."

"Was he cool?" asked Willow excitedly, "oh he must have been cool. Wait, did he become like a bat or anything like in the movies?"

"Yea," said Buffy as she looked around her surroundings again before whispering, "that's not all."

"Umm… Buff?" said Xander who overheard Buffy whisper, "You ok?"

"No," said Buffy shaking her head as she put away the stake..

"What's up?" Willow asked noticing the confusion on Buffy's face.

"Well, we were facing off, and then Dracula started talking to someone who wasn't there" Buffy waved her arms about after pointing out where Dracula stood earlier, and where the strange feelings she had were coming from a few minutes ago.

"Huh?" said Xander scratching his head, "maybe he's a nutty vampire who thinks he's Dracula?"

"I don't think so," said Buffy, "I mean he did do that changing into a bat routine." Willow then asked Buffy about the strange feeling she was getting earlier.

"Dracula said that he was an origami or something?" Buffy said while having a questioning expression on her face as she scratched the back of her head..

"Origami?" said Willow and Xander.

"I know right?" Buffy frowned, "he called it a Soul Reaper."

"Maybe we should talk to Giles about this," said Willow before she shuddered, "Soul Reaper; just the name sounds like a big bad."

"Yeah," replied Buffy, "we can go see Giles tomorrow afternoon. I gotta head home. Tomorrow I have to help the new student from Japan get settled into the dorms."

"Oh yeah," said Willow, who just remembered Buffy telling her a few months ago about Ichigo, "your house guest for the night."

"Does he know karate and stuff?" asked Xander excitedly as he comically kicked out and punched an invisible enemy.

"Xander," said Buffy and Willow together.

"What?" shrugged Xander, "it was just a question."

Buffy sighed as she, Xander, and Willow began walking towards the exit on the far side of the cemetery, "no, I did not ask if he knows Karate."

"He cute?" Willow asked, widening her eyes at Buffy while biting her lower lip.

"I have a boyfriend," Buffy reminded Willow, "Riley? Remember him?" Buffy then looked away while wondering what he was doing that night. Shaking her head, Buffy turned back towards her best friends and asked, "how about we get something from the Espresso Pump before heading home?"

"I'm down with that," Xander said as he moved between the two girls. He then placed an arm over bot Buffy and Willow's shoulders before tuning his head towards Buffy, "you never did answer Willow's question."

"Huh?" Buffy asked confused, her mind was busy while she began thinking about Dracula's eyes.

"The guy from Japan," Willow said expectedly.

"This guy's much, much more normal than Riley," Buffy cut in before Willow could remind her of her own words during one of the nights that the three of them would have an Original Scooby Night where the three of them would spend time alone with each other watching movies and eating chips. It was during one of these gatherings between the three that Buffy told the two of them that Riley seemed to be wanting more from their relationship, but there was something in her heart telling her that it was dangerous for him to be close to her. Buffy then continued, "and yes, Willow, he's cute. But that's it. I'm not looking for anyone; I mean, Riley's… you know…" Buffy shrugged her shoulder, "I mean he's Riley."

"Okay," Willow nodded her head. She knew what Buffy meant about Riley, and she wasn't going to push it.

As they were walking away, Willow heard a loud, unearthly scream coming from the distance.

"Do you guys hear that?" asked Willow as she turned around and looked out towards the direction Ichigo had gone earlier.

"Hear what?" asked Buffy and Xander as they looked at each other, and then back at Willow.

"There," said Willow as she heard the same scream again which was suddenly cut off in mid scream, "it's gone now."

"Will," said Xander, "let's get you home huh?"

"Yea Willow," said Buffy, "I think all of us need some sleep."

Willow narrowed her eyes at the direction of the scream before shaking her head. She told herself that it could simply have been her imagination, especially since Buffy and Xander didn't hear it.

'But why do I feel as if there's something in the air,' Willow thought before she turned and told Buffy, "yea, I think we need some sleep." Willow looked towards the direction of the scream again as they continued to walk while thinking, 'maybe it's just my imagination.'

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**The Summers' Residence, 04:00am**

Ichigo was heading back to the Summers house after a late night of fighting and defeating four other hollows. After he flash stepped onto the roofing outside the window to Dawn's room, he silently opened the unlocked window and then gingerly stepped in so that he didn't make any noise. Once he stepped in, the curtains fluttered thanks to the gentle breeze coming into the room from the outside. Turning around, he closed the window and then stepped back while staring out at the street. Ichigo was thinking about Buffy, and what Dracula had called her; a Slayer.

"You seem strong, Buffy," mumbled Ichigo to himself as he walked over to the bed, "I'm very curious about you now. What makes you the Slayer? Hell what is a Slayer anyway?" He then reminded himself to send a message to Urahara to ask him about Slayers.

Sighing, Ichigo was standing over the bed now where his physical body was already lying under a blanket. He pulled the blanket off Kon, and then shook his shoulder until he woke up. The physical body occupied by Kon turned, opened its eyes, and frowned at Ichigo before sitting up with a yawn. Kon then moved the physical body until its legs were handing off the bed, and then yawned again while wiping his eyes with the back of the hand.

"Yo," whispered Ichigo as Kon looked up at him with a dazed expression on his face, "has Buffy come back yet?"

"Yeah," replied Kon in a whisper while scratching the back of his head, "I think I heard her coming in about three hours ago."

Ichigo then nodded his head and said, "I see."

"Listen, I went out to the hallway after you left," admitted Kon as he look up at Ichigo, "and I sneaked down the stairs to…"

"You did what?" hissed Ichigo angrily. He was about to tell Kon that he simply wanted to have him stay in the room, at least until he had a better run of the city, "Kon…"

"I'm sorry," said Kon waving off Ichigo's worried tone of voice, "but you should thank me for finding out some information about the girl."

"I know about Buffy," said Ichigo sighing.

"What about Buffy?" asked a concerned Kon who narrowed his eyebrows at Ichigo.

"Wait a second," said Ichigo shaking his head and waving his hands about, "Who are you talking about?"

"The younger one, Dawn," said Kon smirking as he quickly changed the subject while leaning forward, "what about Buffy do you know? You know what she likes to wear? And…"

"What?" whispered Ichigo raising his hand back and rolling it into a fist while aiming at Kon, who chuckled, "No! You're an idiot….." Ichigo had his fist cocked and ready to punch Kon, but then realized he'd be punching his own face and then, if that happened, that would make a lot of noise leading to the Summers family waking up to check on what was going on. Sighing, Ichigo lowered his hand, glared at Kon, and then whispered while standing straight, "tell me about the younger sister."

"Fine, Fine," Kon waved his hands before continuing, "I told you I sneaked down the stairs, and it was just to take a peek at what they were doing; the mother and the sister I mean," whispered Kon and Ichigo put down his fist by his side while there was a frown on his mouth, "don't worry, don't worry, they didn't see me."

"Continue," sighed Ichigo who had his arms folded on his chest, "what did you see about Dawn?"

"She had a strange greenish aura around her," said Kon while Ichigo arched an eyebrow, "it looked like some sort of energy that's been compressed in her soul and trying to get out. It looked like it's leaking out of her, but her body is reabsorbing it. It was a continuous process."

"Ummm," said Ichigo as he looked around the room, and then towards the closed door leading to the hallway, and then back to Kon. 'This is a strange family,' Ichigo thought, 'Buffy's something called a Slayer, and Dawn's… well, from what Kon described, Dawn's something else. But the both of them are human, I can't sense their reiatsu."

"Have you ever heard of a Slayer?" whispered Ichigo turning his head back to Kon.

"A Slayer?" said Kon as he scratched his head, "no…. I don't think so. Why?"

"Never mind" replied Ichigo as he stepped forward and slapped the back of his physical body. He then grabbed the circular pill that came out of his mouth and placed it on his dresser. He then slipped back into his body as he thought to himself about the events on his first day in Sunnydale. Getting up off his bed, Ichigo crept to the desk, next to which were his suitcases and bags. He then reached for his charging phone and began sending a message to Urahara.

" _What do you know about someone called a Slayer?"_

After sending the message, Ichigo stared at the greening hue from the screen. After two minutes, there was a beep before a New Message notification popped up in the center of the screen. Opening the message, Ichigo focused on the message he received from Urahara.

" _Will check archives. Get back to you once I've found something."_

Putting the phone away after flipping it shut, Ichigo walked back to the bed and lay down. Closing his eyes, just fell asleep wondering about Buffy being the Slayer.

 **Summers Residence, next morning, 7:30am.**

Joyce walked up the stairs and stopped outside Dawn's room where Ichigo was fast asleep. Dawn already left for school earlier while Buffy was already down in the kitchen having some cereal, eggs, and toast. The older Summers was thinking back to Buffy having met a vampire who introduced himself as Dracula, and then there was also the mention of an unseen force called a Soul Reaper. Joyce even asked Buffy is the Vampire calling himself Dracula was a Vampire that had been crazy when he was alive. In concerned Joyce that Buffy just shrugged before continuing to eat her food. However, she sensed that Joyce was concerned and so added that she would see Giles after her classes were finished at two that afternoon.

 _'I hope I'm not being too rude'_ thought Joyce to herself as she reached the door and raised her fist. She knocked on the door with her knuckles twice. Buffy had a class at nine that morning while she had to leave for the gallery and inspect some artifacts from New Guinea for a show in two days.

"Good morning, Ichigo," Joyce stifled her chuckle when she heard a 'thump', which indicated that it was highly probable Ichigo fell off the bed. She listened, staring at the door, as a groan of pain followed another 'thump', unknown to Joyce this was Ichigo stubbing his big toe on the side of Dawn's desk. The young man was so groggy that he thought he was back in his old room at Karakura Town.

"Morning," Ichigo groaned while opening the door. He was wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, "thought I was back home." Ichigo then rubbed his face before saying, "sorry, I'm still suffering from jetlag."

"That's perfectly understandable, Ichigo," Joyce smiled, "you should freshen up and come have breakfast."

"Thanks," he whispered with his eyes half open, "I guess I should take a shower."

Joyce nodded her head before adding, "Buffy has to go on campus too so she can get her registration out of the way. She'll help you with the dorm registration and everything, and then the both of you can get your registration done."

Ichigo nodded his head, he wanted to say that he could handle it himself, but stopped himself. He wanted to get familiar with the campus and the city, and who better to do that with than Buffy. 'No need to tell her I'm a Shinigami, and I don't have to tell he I know she's a Slayer. No, I'm just Ichigo Kurosaki, new university student.'

"I'll be down in twenty minutes?"

Joyce nodded her head, "see you downstairs." She then stepped away, turned and went down the stairs. IN the meantime, Ichigo closed the door to the room and then walked over to the table. He picked up the phone and, on the main screen, he saw no message notifications. Sighing, he then walked over the side of the table and crouched down. Opening the suitcase, he took out some clothes her needed before looking up at the chest of drawers. He nearly forgot about Kon- he stood up, picked the circular pill up and then stuffed it into his suitcase before closing it back up again.

Then, with his clothes over his shoulder, Ichigo exited the room and into the hallway. He smelled eggs and toast, followed by bacon wafting into his nostrils. Taking in a deep breath, he then walked over to the rest room and started taking his shower.

While Ichigo was taking a shower, Joyce was sitting across from Buffy at the kitchen island. There was another plate of eggs, toast, and bacon kept aside for Ichigo. Joyce took a sip of her coffee before leaning forward, "Buffy, I need you to stay with Ichigo and help him out with…"

"Mom," Buffy said looking at her mother just before she got another spoonful of cereal into her mouth, the spoon hovering above the bowl, "what did you do?"

"I told Ichigo that you'd be able to help him with everything he needs to get done," Buffy narrowed her eyes at Joyce who continued to speak, "and then maybe you could… you know… introduce him to Tara, Willow, Xander, Riley, and…"

"Mom," Buffy said before looking out the entrance to the kitchen and to the dining room. She concentrated and used her enhanced hearing to listen to footsteps. Hearing nothing, Buffy then turned back to her mother, "I've got stuff to do… Slayer stuff…"

"Buffy," Joyce chided, "imagine you're in a foreign country for the first time, would you want to be left to do things on your own? Or would you want someone helping you for as long as possible?" Joyce arched an eyebrow as Buffy pressed her lips together while staring at her. Joyce then took a sip of coffee before continuing, "I mean I know what I'd prefer."

"Alright, fine," Buffy shook her head, "I have to meet up with Giles, Willow, and the others at the Magic Box. I mean, come on, we have a shop called the Magic Box where I hang out with my friends. He's gonna think I'm some kind of a weirdo."

"Are you some kind of a weirdo?" Joyce innocently asked arching her eyebrows upwards, and enjoying the exasperated look on her daughter.

"That's not the point, mom," Buffy frowned, "and no, I'm not some kind of a weirdo."

"Buffy," Joyce gently said as she reached across and held her daughter's hand, "all I'm asking is just show him around. Maybe introduce him to a few of your friends. I don't want him to be lonely while he's here, honey."

Buffy then sighed before saying, "fine, mom."

Joyce then had a wide grin on her face before she continued with her breakfast. It would b another fifteen minutes later that Ichigo walked down the stairs with his bags, placed them next to the stairs, and then walked into the kitchen where bot Joyce and Buffy were still seated.

"Morning," Buffy smiled at the young man who replied with the same greeting. As Joyce got up to grab the plate of food, she asked him to help himself to the warm coffee in the coffee machine. Ichigo nodded his head before pouring himself a cup and then sat next to Joyce before digging into the food on his plate.

"Sooo, Ichigo," Buffy said. Ichigo looked up at her while chewing as she continued, "I'm guessing you need to get some stuff for your place after your registered an everything?" Buffy didn't want to take Ichigo to the Magic Box, if wasn't that she was shy about him meeting her friends; in fact she mentally told herself there was nothing to be shy about meeting her friends. Instead, her biggest qualm was that she didn't want a complete stranger to know that she hung out with her closest friends in the Magic Box. So, after he sat down and started eating, an idea popped into her head that she could take him to the mall… and all she had to do was call Willow, Tara, and the others to meet at the mall instead. She knew he would have to go to the mall some time since she herself had been living in the dorms since her freshman year, and there were some things that the Housing Department did not provide the incoming freshmen, "I've already lived in the dorms as a freshman, so trust when I say you'll need linens, toiletries – I mean all the basic stuff – then you'll need hangers to hang your clothes and…"

"They gave me a list," Ichigo said after taking a sip of his coffee, "it's a lot of stuff."

"So," Buffy asked, "how about we head to the mall after checking in? You could put your stuff in the room, and then we'll go to the mall? You in?"

Joyce smiled at her daughter while drinking her coffee. Buffy glanced at Joyce who subtly nodded her head before turned her head towards Ichigo, "Buffy can bring her friends along. I'd be nice to have some more company. And besides, you're welcome here anytime."

"Thanks," Ichigo nodded his head.

"I have a standing dinner order with Buffy every night," Joyce said as she got off her seat, "and I want you here too."

"Ummmm," Ichigo hummed as he looked at Joyce walk away before turning to look questioningly at Buffy who shrugged.

"Not if you value your life, and your appetite," she whispered before chuckling. Ichigo chuckled as well while Joyce yelled out that she heard what Buffy said.

Turning around Joyce pointed a finger at Buffy with a smirk on her face, "no more laundry days here, Buffy."

"Mom," Buffy whined.

"That's what you get for making fun of my cooking," Joyce grinned before turning around to clean her plate. Ichigo was still chuckling as Buffy mumbled something that was incoherent. The Slayer then sighed before looking up at Ichigo and asking him about his family.

He swallowed his bacon and then said, "well, my dad's a doctor who has his own clinic. I have two younger sisters, Yuzu and Karin. Karin's the older one.. I mean she's younger than me, and yuzu's the youngest in the family. She's also the chef – always has something ready for us for breakfast and after we get back from work or school."

"And your mom?" Buffy asked. She was curious since Ichigo didn't mention his mother; all she thought was that she may have divorced his father or they were separated.

"She's… umm…" Buffy noticed that Ichigo looked away from her. She glanced at her mother who turned back at hearing the hesitation in Ichigo's voice, and then back at Ichigo who had an expression of sorrow on his face for just an instant before it was gone.

He then looked back up at Buffy and answered, "she died when I was nine."

"Oh," and Buffy felt crushed as she looked back at the stunned expression on Joyce's face before looking back at Ichigo whose lips were pressed together, "I.. I'm sorry about asking."

"It's fine," Ichigo shook his head, "you and Joyce didn't know. It was when I was nine, and we were walking home from a karate lesson. We passed a canal, and I thought I saw a girl trying to jump into the water and I ran. After that it was a blur… I don't actually remember what happened. But I think I was knocked unconscious," Joyce sat back down next to Ichigo as he continued to say that when he woke up, his mother's bleeding body was lying on top of him.

"Oh," Joyce whispered looking at Buffy who had a stunned expression on her face.

"But," Ichigo then had a small smile on his face, "the police found out how my mother died. The girl I thought jumping into the canal wasn't a girl- it was a serial killer who was washing his knife in the water. I guess I must have spooked him and… well…" Ichigo knew the story was a lie, he already had his vengeance on the Hollow – Grand Fisher – who murdered his mother months after getting his Shinigami powers for the first time. But he kept on the lie, thinking about the details that were important on the fly, "the guy confessed. Said that he knocked me out, and then killed my mother."

"And you were left alive," Joyce said, "it's a miracle."

"Considering the circumstances, yeah," Ichigo said.

"Come on," Joyce said after a sigh, "lets get your bags out to the car." She didn't know what else to say, what else could she say that he hadn't heard before. She shook her head and berated herself mentally before placing a hand on his shoulder. Ichigo looked back up at Joyce who said, "I'm sure you've heard everything t here is to hear about loss. All I know is that eventually it gets better, at least now you have some closure after the man who killed her has been arrested."

Ichigo nodded his head.

Joyce smiled at him before telling Buffy to get ready, that they were going to leave in ten minutes. As Joyce walked away, Ichigo turned back to Buffy getting off her seat – she was wearing a cream colored blouse and grey jeans along with a scarf tied around her neck. Ichigo looked away and finished his food while thinking to himself, 'it's warm here. Why wear a scarf around the house?' Ichigo then got up from his chair and handed the empty plate to Buffy who reached out for it, 'maybe it's a fashion thing.'

He watched as Buffy turned around and began to wash the dishes before he too turned and walked towards the way out of the kitchen.

'Wonder what else this day could bring,' Ichigo thought to himself while Buffy looked over her shoulder with a look of sympathy as she watched Ichigo exit the kitchen.

TBC.


	5. Chapter 5

**The MacArthur Building, U.C. Sunnydale, 1030 hours.**

"I know I wasn't expecting a lot," Ichigo said as he stood in the middle of the medium sized room while Buffy stood next to him with her hands on her hips. He scanned the area around him – a chest of four drawers, a simple study table, a small closet, a metal framed bed with a plain green mattress, and then there was a full length mirror next to the door that led to the rest room. "But this is really… really… unique," Ichigo rubbed the back of his head as he then stared at the cream coloured walls that surrounded them while they stood on brown coloured carpeting.

"Told ya," Buffy said as she looked around the room as well. It was a little smaller than her room, but then again, she stayed in a room meant for two people, "had to deal with the same thing." Ichigo was carrying in his left hand a list given to him by someone at the Housing Office after he checked-in, it was the same list of items that he needed to purchase to have a comfortable stay in the dorms which arrived in his admission packet. Ichigo picked up his suitcases and then placed them next to the desk while Buffy opened the window to the room next to the bed.

Once the window was open, the stuffy air around them was gone… and replaced by fresh air. A warm, gentle breeze flowed in through the window and swirled around the room while Ichigo opened the closet and stared into the empty space.

"Well, I'll need some hangers." He said looking up at the metal rod in the closet.

"Linens," Buffy said nodding at the bed, "pillows, oh, and the AC's here get really cold so you'll need a blanket too."

"Got it," Ichigo said closing the closet door and then turning around and looking at the desk, "a table lamp. I need a laptop too, and all the other things on the list." Ichigo put his hands into his pockets as Buffy shrugged. She then said it was time they left and head onto getting Ichigo's student ID before the both of them registered for their classes.

It took over an hour, due to crowds of students who were getting their student ID's processed, before it was Ichigo's turn. His mind was focused on Buffy and his desire to ask her about what it was she did as a Slayer. He wanted to know what her responsibilities were, 'does she fight Hollow's too?' As he stared at the camera while Buffy was checking out some shirts at the Campus Shop, Ichigo mentally told himself that if there was someone else fighting hollows, then he would have been told, 'well, there are the Quincies, but Ishida would have told me about someone called the Slayer.'

After his picture was taken, Ichigo waited another fifteen minutes for his Student ID card. While waiting, he glanced at Buffy rubbing the side of her neck under the scarf she was wearing. 'There's nothing strange about that,' he thought to himself before his thoughts went back Inoue, 'I wonder how she's doing?' He then reminded himself to send her an email about his first day as he leaned back again the wall behind him.

Looking up at the wall clock, Ichigo saw that the time was nearly twelve noon. He glanced over at Buffy looking at some trousers in the Campus Shop when she raised her head and looked towards him. Or at least that's who Ichigo thought she was looking at. Instead a smile came on her face as a young man with sandy brown hair walked towards her. Just as his name was called Ichigo stood up while glancing at the young man approaching Buffy, the young woman then hugging him followed by a kiss.

"Thanks," Ichigo said as he grabbed his student ID from the older brown-haired woman behind the counter. Stuffing the ID into his wallet, he then walked out of the office and then towards the Campus Shop where Buffy and the mystery young man were still talking.

He walked in, saw the shift in Buffy's gaze towards him, and then waved.

"Hey, you're done?" Buffy asked as the young man turned around and then narrowed his eyes at Ichigo.

"Riley Finn," Buffy said, her arm holding his while motioning towards Ichigo, "this is Ichigo Kurosaki." Riley then shook Ichigo's hand while Buffy explained that they were his host family while he was studying in the States. Riley nodded his head at that before turning to Buffy and asking her if she wanted to go have some lunch.

And suddenly Ichigo felt awkward standing there. Buffy was telling Riley that she was supposed to show him around and take him to the mall – Ichigo noticed the resigned expression on Riley's face. 'Yeah, really awkward, especially after I saw that kiss between them. Anyway, maybe its better if I go by myself, it'll also give me a chance to check out the city on my own.'

"Ummm," Ichigo said looking over at Buffy, "I don't really want to get in the middle of…"

"I promised my mom that I'd show you around, and…" Buffy said before Ichigo interrupted her.

"I'll be fine," Ichigo assured her and waved off her concerns, "I'll just get a cab…"

"Bus is better, there's a stop right out the north entrance of the Mall," Buffy said before shaking her head and turning to Riley, "Riley, rain check? Lunch tomorrow?"

"Ummm…." Riley mumbled while looking over Buffy's shoulder as he watched Ichigo take off running backwards while a grin was plastered on his face and a hand waved at him. Riley, turning Buffy around, waved back while the blonde Slayer raised her arms up to her side with a quizzical expression on her face – as if she was silently asking "what the hell are you doing?"

Ichigo knew what she was wordlessly asking, so he yelled out, "didn't want to interfere in your date!" And then he rushed out of one of the exits. AS he stepped out into the bright sunlight, he stopped running and walked on the pavement, 'okay, that would have been really awkward.' He then suddenly stopped and scratched his head, 'now where do I get information on bus routes.'

Meanwhile, back in the Campus Shop, Buffy turned to Riley and sighed, "well, lunch?"

"Yeah," Riley chuckled as he placed an arm around her shoulders before the two of them walked out of the Shop. As they walked out another exit that was nearby, Buffy chuckled before saying, "I kinda promised mom I'd show him around, especially make him to the mall to get some things for his room."

"He looks like he can handle himself," Riley said.

"I even promised to introduce him to Tara, Willow, Xander, and Anya," Buffy said leaning into Riley as they walked, "but…."

"But?" Riley asked.

"It was so hectic this morning that I kinda forgot to call them," Buffy said, "I was gonna take him to Willow and Tara's room, and from there call Xander and Anya, before moving on to the mall."

"Well, there's always tomorrow, Buff," Riley said kissing the top of her head, "call 'em up tomorrow."

"Yeah," Buffy said, suddenly feeling bad that she ditched Ichigo, "I guess we could do this whole meet and greet thing tomorrow." She then looked up and smiled at Riley before she recalled Dracula and the Shinigami he was referring to, "and after lunch, we need to see Giles. It's important."

"Sure," he replied.

"And for this, I definitely need everyone there to hear what happened," Buffy added as they continued their walk towards the cafeteria.

It would be about three hours later that Ichigo returned from his trip to the mall carrying four bags in each hand while carrying a laptop boxy underneath his left arm. Ichigo then entered his dorm room, dropped the bags on the floor and placed the laptop box gingerly on the table before talking out his wallet and then his phone. He was exhausted. Ichigo turned the AC on, closed the window in his room, took off all his clothes, and then took out the two pillows he bought before throwing them on the bed, and then he lay down. Once his head hit the soft pillows, Ichigo was fast asleep.

At that same time Buffy and the others were at Giles' home discussing the appearance of the vampire, Dracula.

 **Giles' Apartment, 5:00pm**

Buffy had a faraway look in her eyes as she recalled how Dracula had appeared in her room. It was something she hadn't mentioned yet, it was the reason why she was wearing the scarf around her neck – the vampire left a memento of his visit on her neck. She was sitting on one of the couches in Giles' apartment, and once they began talking about Dracula, she started feeling as if she was being pulled somewhere. She felt as if she needed something… or someone. She felt suddenly alone.

"Buffy?" asked Giles when he noticed the distracted expression on Buffy's face, "everything alright?"

"Buff?" said Xander, "You thinking about the dark master?"

Everyone then turned and looked questioningly at Xander, "you know….. bater"

"You alright, Xander?" asked Willow arching an eyebrow towards him.

"Yeah" replied Xander waving her off, "just wondering how we can stop the lord of darkness"

"Seriously Xander?" asked Willow as she stared at him with confusion etched on her face at how he spoke when they mentioned anything related to Dracula, "are you alright?"

"Willow" said Buffy who looked away from Xander and turned towards the blonde Slayer, "why don't you to talk to Giles about what I told you about last night, I need to go outside for a while"

"Buffy, are you alright?" Giles asked once again, "what else did you see last night?"

"It's… ah… something weird," Buffy whispered shaking her head before pointing towards the front door, "I'll be outside. I… I need some fresh air." Giles looking worriedly at her before nodding his head. Buffy then strode towards the door as fast as possible while rubbing her forehead and thinking, 'what's wrong with me? It's like I'm craving Dracula, that I should go to him and stay with him.. no….it can't be that I'm under his thrall… there's no way….' Buffy then opened the door and walked out into the daylight.

Noticing the look of confusion on Buffy's face, Riley too got up from his couch and rushed out the door while calling out, "Buffy!" The other Scoobies watched the door slam shut before Willow started to speak. While Riley was talking to Buffy in the courtyard outside Giles' apartment, Willow was finished talking to Giles about what Buffy had told her last night about Dracula and the mysterious being he seemed to be talking to… a being that Buffy could not see with her own eyes.

"Buffy said Dracula called this person an origami?" said Giles, earning a scoff from Anya who was sitting on the armchair across from them, "That doesn't make any sense"

"Japanese paper folding?" said a confused Xander as he spotted another spider on the table, which he promptly used his hand to grab and then put it into his mouth when he was unnoticed by the rest of the Scoobies before mumbling out, "doesn't sound like an effective name for a big bad"

"No" said Willow shaking her head, "not an Origami. I said Buffy thought she heard Dracula call it an Origami. But what she said was that Dracula called it a Shinigami."

"What?" Anya said leaning forward on her seat with a look of fear on her face, "you sure she said Shinigami?"

"Buffy said Dracula called it a Soul Reaper," Willow narrowed her eyes at the look of worry on Anya's face as she leaned back and looked away from Willow while staring to bite her left thumbnail.

"OK, a Soul Reaper," said Xander as he pointed to Willow and Anya, "now that's a name of a big bad"

"Soul Reaper?" said Giles, "you mean Grim Reaper"

"Nope" said Willow, "Buffy definitely said Soul Reaper"

"That's odd" said Giles as he got up and walked to a book case while glancing at the look of fear on Anya's face, "the council has heard of them before. Like Dracula said, they're known as Shinigami, which is Japanese for Death Gods." He then picked out a book and handed it to Willow, "But they're only supposed to be a myth, they don't exist"

"Don't belief everything you read," Anya whispered as she gazed out as if she was staring at something faraway.

"Anya?" Giles said, "did you say something?"

"Shinigami, or Deathgods, or Soul Reapers," Anya said, her body shuddering as memories came to the forefront of her mind, "whatever you want to call them. They're real."

"If they're real," Willow said as she paged through the book and stopped at an artist's impression of a Shinigami – a large horned beast with claws and green skin. She then showed the picture to Anya who shook her head before closing the book and placing it on the coffee table while Willow asked, "then why haven't we encountered one?"

Giles then turned to Anya, "Anya, Willow's right. According to legend, Shinigami are supposed to lead the dead to the next world."

"It's more than that," Anya said as her mind travelled back to a few centuries after she was made into a Vengeance Demon, "I was somewhere in Europe, someplace in Norway I think, when I called by this woman to exact vengeance on her cheating slime ball of a husband." Anya then took a deep breath as she looked at Giles, Anya, and then at Xander before her eyes shifted towards Giles, "she wanted him to experiences boils so painful that he would beg for release… so there I was, in the cheating bastard's room while he slept with one of the town whores and… and…" Anya's face went pale as she explained the terror she felt in her bones from the scream she heard coming through the window.

"What scream?" Willow asked as she leaned forward, her mind going back to that day at the graveyard when she heard a distant scream as well. But Anya didn't listen to her, Willow saw that she wrapped her arms around herself while she spoke.

"All I know is that… that I felt as if the air around me suddenly became hearvy," Anya said as Willow looked away, the latter recalling something in the air last night, "but the man I was supposed to hurt didn't wake up. It was loud, but he didn't wake up. So… so I looked out the window, and… and I heard the scream coming closer. But not one ran out their homes to check on the scream… and… and that time the place was dark. There was no light but I still felt this presence… this heavy presence." Anya recalled a feeling of weights being placed down into her very being as the air started to become heavy, "like there was a form of pressure pushing me down."

Giles and Willow looked at each other while Xander got off his seat at the other end of the room after eating another insect and walked over to where Anya was sitting.

"It felt like pure evil," Anya said, "I… I felt something similar many times later in my life. But the first time… it was… it was like I was going to die."

"But you're immortal," Xander said.

"It still felt as if I could die," Anya said looking at him, and then at Giles. It was then she noticed the expression on Willow's face. She turned towards her and asked point-blank, "you heard something, Willow, didn't you?"

"It was just my imagination," Willow shook her head and Anya turned away; she believe the redhead.

"So, do these Soul Reapers take souls away? Kill demons? Or…" Xander was about to continue when Anya shook her head and said that they didn't. And immediately, Giles and Willow stared at her as if they were waiting expectedly for an answer.

"The scream… the stream was so close by that I swear I saw the ground near the house I was in being slashed by something I couldn't see," the Vengeance demon said, "but the feeling I had was nothing I ever experienced. It bore down on me and… and I could feel it staring at me." They saw the thousand year old demon shudder, "and then I saw it. It… it was grey… like a snake with a fanged bone mask. I wanted to scream out… I wanted to teleport myself out of there but… my mind was so…" Anya shuddered again, "I saw it's red eyes staring at me… I saw it pull back one of it's six claws and I thought that was it."

"And then?" Xander asked – the man was engrossed in the story.

"I wanted to yell out for help… I tried to reach out for….. with my mind…. But I couldn't think," Anya said, "and then the thing screamed. I saw the claw come down at me, but I still couldn't move. There was so much pressure pushing down on me."

And Anya continued while everyone listened with rapt attention, "I wanted to close my eyes. But nothing in my body moved. Then I saw the claw chopped off and then there was this man in a black cloak… at least I thought it was a cloak. I think it was more like a black robe. He was young… kinda hot, I guess."

"Hey," Xander whined while Anya waved him off.

"He was fast… faster than I've ever seen anyone move," Anya said as she imagined the man standing over her, his face hidden by the shadows as the snake-like creature disintegrated behind him. She told Willow, Giles, and Xander that he put his sword back into its guards and then nodded at her and turned around.

Anya then had a small smile on her face, "I asked his who he was, and what that monster was. I asked him if it was some type of a demon."

"And?" Willow asked.

"He said that it wasn't something like me," Anya said as she looked at Willow, "he knew I was a demon. He told me so to my face, and then…" Anya's mind went back to that night. The man in the flowing black robe turned around again and walked towards her before extending his hand downwards. She reached up and grabbed the hand before she was pulled up to her feet. Anya told Willow and the others that the man then took a step back, and the moon light lit up his face, "he was kinda of hot…"

"Ahn, not helping," Xander said as he frowned at Anya.

"He was tall, had spiky black hair, and brown eyes," Anya said before shaking her head and chuckling, "I even asked him if he'd like to go out sometime after I did my whole vengeance thing on the guy sleeping with the whore."

"Forget the whore," Willow practically yelled, causing Xander, Anya, and Giles to turn towards the expectant face looking back at the Venegeance Demon, "what happened?"

"Hey," Xander cried out, "I don't wanna hear about…"

"He said he had t hings he needed to do," Anya said with a small smile on his face, "I asked him if he was going to kill me to protect the guy who cheated."

"And?" Willow asked.

"He said that Soul Reapers, or Shinigami, don't handle demons or vampires," Anya repeated what the man said, "he said they deal with the balance of the universe. He said he wouldn't kill me, but asked that I do what I had to do once he left."

"So," Willow excitedly said with her lips showing a grin and her eyes wide open, "did he say he'll get back to you or, I mean… did you see him again?"

"Not him, but I've seen one or two others," Anya said as she recalled the Shinigami who saved her life, "at least I know the name of the guy who saved me. At least I have that."

"That's so romantic," Willow mumbled staring at Anya.

"Will," screeched Xander with a look that said "what the hell?"

And Anya chuckled at Xander's reaction. As for Giles, he fixed his glasses and said, "Willow, I think we have larger things to worry about. If the Shinigami are really not going after demons or vampires, then the possibility of it encountering Buffy or Dracula again is low. Let us…."

"What's his name?" Willow asked excitedly.

"Willow," Xander and Giles cried out.

"He said his name was Isshin," Anya said before she looked over at Xander and held his hand, "that was a long time ago, Xander. You're my orgasm friend who makes me breakfast in the morning, not him."

"Yeah… okay… this just got creepy," Willow shook her head at hearing her oldest friend being called an Orgasm Friend.

"As I was saying, Dracula poses a much bigger danger for now, for Buffy at least" said Giles, "we'll just go with Anya's judgement on the Shinigami, for now we can't expect help nor will this person hinder us." Before Giles could continue to say that the possibility of the Shinigami being neither good nor evil in terms of fighting against demons is still something that works against them, the front door swung open and Riley rushed in with Buffy close behind… her scarf now in her hand.

"Listen guys" said Riley striding up to the group, "we have a problem, I think Buffy's in Dracula's thrall." This was a surprise to everyone with Giles asking how Riley could be sure. He then pointed at Buffy's neck. Giles craned forward and frowned when he saw a pair of bite mark on Buffy's neck as Riley said, "she's been bitten"

"Buffy" said Giles as Willow rushed up to Buffy, "why didn't you tell us?"

"I don't know" replied Buffy quietly.

"Alright" said Giles, "let's leave this whole Soul Reaper thing for later, our first concern needs to be Buffy's well being"

"Soul Reaper?" asked Riley

"Long Story," said Giles, "we need to find Dracula and then kill him. Having a Slayer in his thrall is something that I do not want to see. Especially Buffy." Buffy turned her head to look at Giles as he put his hand on her shoulder, "but Buffy, you need to fight his thrall. You have the willpower, I know you do."

Buffy gave Giles a small smile before she nodded her head. At the same time, Willow said, "Anyway, we need to keep Buffy away from Dracula somehow."

"She can stay with me and Anya" said Xander excitedly

"Sure," said Buffy nodding her head as she looked over at Xander.

"Alright then" said Riley, "the rest of us can go check out the abandoned posh digs that Willow was talking about. Anyone of them could be Dracula's hideout"

"I'll go meet up with Tara and Dawn" said Willow, "they're supposed to be at the ice cream place for their regular get together."

"And I need to explain to my mother why I forgot to call my friends, and why I didn't take Ichigo to the mall," Buffy sighed as she trudged along to Giles phone while sarcastically saying, "this is going to be such a fun conversation."

TBC.


	6. Chapter 6

**U.C. Sunnydale Dorms, 9:30pm**

Ichigo's groan was muffled by the pillow. He could hear a distant ringing nearby while his head was lying sideways facing the window and his body was lying flat down on the hard mattress. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He was so groggy as he stared at the darkening sky – the first stars already shining in the sky above the Earth.

'Oh God,' Ichigo thought as he lifted his head, but the rest of his body was simply too tired to move. He then turned his head towards the direction of his desk, and plopped his head back down on the soft feather-light pillow once again, 'oh this is so comfortable.' He then closed his eyes so that he could sleep once again. Then he heard a knocking sound, but it wasn't coming from the direction of his door. Opening his eyes again upon hearing the knocking sound one again, the sound that was coming from his desk; a signal from his phone that he received a text message. Ichigo huffed and pushed himself up against his better judgement.

'I hate jet lag,' Ichigo thought shaking his head as he got off his bed, stood up, and then stretched his arms over his head while yawning. He heard various parts of his body crack before he walked toward the table, next to which were the bags from the mall as well as the box that contained his laptop. Passing by the pile of clothes he had on earlier that day, Ichigo picked them up and then stared at the shirt and jeans before shrugging his shoulders and walked over to the closet He threw them to the far-left corner of the closet while mentally reminding himself to purchase a laundry basket the next day.

After closing the closet doors, Ichigo walked over to the phone on the table and saw the charm connected to the phone blinking red and green alternatively. Furrowing his eyebrows as to what the colours meant, he then picked up the phone and flipped it open to find reminders that he missed a call and that he had an unread message.

"The call from Home," Ichigo whispered to himself as he walked back to the bed while staring at the screen. He then turned and sat down, "must be from either Karin or Yuzu. Dad would have called… well… he'd call and scream on the phone about why I didn't call back and how worried he was getting." Ichigo then chuckled while imagining his father hugging the hanging memorial picture of Masaki and complaining that Ichigo was being cruel. The green light stopped blinking.

Ichigo shook his head and then went on to the unread text, and once he opened the text, the red blinking light on the charm stopped blinking.

" _Kurosaki-kun, I hope you made it to Sunnydale safely. I miss you, and I wish I had more times together with you."_

"I wish I had longer time to spend with you too, Inoue," Ichigo whispered as he remembered the night, two nights ago, he told her that he was accepted to an American university. Ichigo saw great sadness on Inoue's face due to not only the fact that he was leaving, but also from the very fact that he hadn't bothered to tell her that he was going in the first place.

The night before last, the night before Ichigo left Japan, he was in Inoue's apartment. Ichigo still remembered that she had on an apron since she was cooking dinner for the both of them, particularly since she knew Ichigo would get hungry after his patrols. Ichigo remembered how cheerful she had been after he walked into her apartment, closing the door behind him. He still remembered telling her that he was sorry… he saw Inoue stop cold… her back to him since she was heading back into the kitchen after telling him to take a seat and that she would be right out with dinner.

And then she turned towards Ichigo, asking his if everything was alright.

Ichigo could still see the look of sorrow on her face as tears welled in her eyes after he told her the truth. The two them had been together ever since the battle between himself and Ginjo was over. Ever since he regained all of his Shinigami powers. He had seen her happy, he had seen her sad, he had seen her worried; and it was all for him. But this was the first time he had seen Inoue crushed.

She was crying… sobbing actually… sobbing hard… Ichigo stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked away in shame. Shame at himself for causing the girl who supported him such pain. A second later, he looked back at her when she dropped the ladle she was holding in her hand. Ichigo shook his head before rushing over to her and holding her tight. He apologized while holding her, he gave her his reasons for leaving, and then said that he loved her.

The two of them would spend the entire night on the couch; the dinner that Inoue cooked was completely forgotten.

'In the end, she said it would be better for me to come here to Sunnydale,' Ichigo thought as he typed a response to Inoue's text, 'she didn't want me to resent her.' Ichigo the sent the message before staring at the screen and then he looked up at the desk, 'as if I could ever resent her.'

He then looked back down at the screen and started writing a new message.

" _I know we talked about this,"_ he typed, " _I know I…"_

Ichigo then stopped typing and shook his head. "I'm an idiot," he whispered. Ichigo then began dialling a number on his phone. Once he connected the call, Ichigo put it to his ear and waiting for the person on the other line to pick up.

"Inoue," Ichigo said as he looked downwards with a smile on his face.

"Kurosaki-kun?" Inoue answered. She was typing up a response to Ichigo's message when he suddenly called her. She was still getting used to his sudden decision to leave, but she told herself that she would be able to handle it. After all, Ichigo swore that he would visit her and his family during his breaks. "I.. I was just about to…"

"I know we talked about this," Ichigo said with an expression of conviction in his face, "but, Inoue, I need you here. I…"

"Ku…"

"Please, let me finish," Ichigo said, recalling what Inoue had said that night, "you said your Aunt won't pay for your tuition here. Neither would she pay for the housing stuff… well, I'll only be staying in the dorms for a year and then... and then you could come by and we could move in together. And as for tuition, I could ask my dad to…"

"I am not going to ask your father for money, Kurosaki-Kun," Inoue said with a shade of red on her cheeks, "I…"

"I mean he could go with you to talk to your Aunt," Ichigo clarified as he rubbed the back of his head before he calmed down from his initial excitement, "I know I hurt you Inoue."

"It did hurt," Inoue replied.

"But I want to see you often, you know," Ichigo said as he sat cross-legged on the mattress, "not just three months or… I mean I know that that crazy Urahara will have something that'll help us communicate easier but… but it's not the same thing."

Inoue couldn't help but smile. She loved Ichigo, there was no question about it. She loved him. And she did want to see him again. She would have gone with Ichigo in a heartbeat, but given that her Aunt was giving her money for school and her everyday expenses until she found a job, Inoue needed to convince her. At least without Isshin by her side when she went to talk to her… at least not yet.

"I'll talk to Aunt Keiko, Kurosaki-kun," Inoue said with a smile as she brushed away a lock of her hair.

Ichigo continued talking to Inoue for another twenty minutes before putting his phone down. He then texted his family while walking around and taking the things he bought from the mall out of their bags and onto the mattress.

Once he was done, Ichigo began to fix up his room, including placing all his clothes in the closet and in the chest of drawers. He then took out the Soul Pill and placed it on top of the table – and ended with setting up his laptop. Sighing as he leaned back on the chair that came with the room, Ichigo folded the screen of the laptop shut and then got up. He heard his stomach grumbling and so, after taking a shower, Ichigo told himself that he needed to go down to the cafeteria for dinner.

During the entire time, his thoughts were on Inoue. Ichigo knew he had made a mistake in hiding that he was leaving for the States, and now all he wanted was for Inoue to join him.

'Should have thought about this before I even applied,' Ichigo thought as he walked out of the shower before he quickly pushed that thought aside, 'no, I should have told Inoue a lot time ago. She understood why I told her at the last possible second… but she was still hurt.' Ichigo sighed before he opened his closet and took out some clothes.

Walking out of his room and into the hallway, Ichigo had his hands in his pockets as he made for the stairs at the end of the hallway. 'I wonder if Urahara found something,' he thought to himself. Eventually, he made it to the crowded cafeteria.

While in line to get his food, Ichigo felt his phone vibrate. Taking out the phone while holding the tray in one hand, he heard someone chuckle as the charm hanging from his phone blinked red. He saw there was an unread message, 'from Urahara's number.' Ichigo flipped the phone open, accessed the message, and was then surprised about what he read.

" _How's things in Sunnydale? Met any vampires yet? By the way, found some interesting things about what you asked about from SS archives."_

'Huh', Ichigo thought in surprise as he closed the phone and placed it back into his pocket. He thought it would be better to type the reply when he was at his table, 'he knew there were Vampires here? And he found information on Slayers.'

Once it was his turn, Ichigo grabbed some food, placed it on his tray, and then paid before leaving for the tables and chairs. He found one that was in a corner, empty among the rest which were already full of people whose voices buzzed as they talked about their everyday lives with their friends or people they had just met. Ichigo passed them on the way to the empty table and sat down, placing the tray of food in front of him.

As he took out his phone again, Ichigo's thoughts went back to Buffy and wondered if she encountered Dracula again. He wondered if there were other vampires in Sunnydale and around the world. He wondered what else was out there other than Hollows and Shinigami. As he started to type out his message to Urahara on the phone, he wondered if there was something more than Soul Society, 'I heard someone whisper something about Squad Zero during the war with Aizen, but when I asked Rukia, she told me that no such Squad existed in Soul Society.'

" _You knew about the vampires here?"_

Ichigo then sent his message to Urahara before taking a bite of the spaghetti bolognaise on the plate in front of him, 'I asked Renji too, and he said the same thing. He was confused about it, so maybe he doesn't know?' Ichigo swallowed his food as he recalled asking Byakuya after the real Karakura Town was returned following the Aizen incident, 'all he told me was that it was something I didn't need to know about.'

"This conflict is below them." That's what Byakuya told Ichigo before flash stepping away. Even Urahara had told him that the Zero Squad would not have intervened. 'That confirmed the existence of Squad Zero,' Ichigo thought as he took a bite off his garlic bread, 'Aizen claimed he was on the same level as a god, so if that is below Squad Zero's notice, then do they ever intervene?' Ichigo sighed again, pushed aside all those thoughts, and continued to have his dinner.

"Knock." The phone made a knocking sound.

Sucking in a stray spaghetti strand hanging off the corner of his mouth, Ichigo flipped open the phone and accessed the recent unread message.

" _Yes. But don't worry about them. They are not your concern. I did more research on the city of Sunnydale after you left. That place is built on a mystical…"_

The message ended there before there was another beep from the phone as the second part of the message arrived.

'Must be one long message.' Ichigo thought as he opened the second message while his thought lingered on the word 'mystical'.

"… _convergence known as the Hellmouth. It releases energy that attracts all manner of demons, vampires, and other monsters. Anyway, it's better if I call you."_

Almost immediately after Ichigo finished reading the second message, the phone started to ring. He flipped the phone open, placed it on his ear, and then leaned back on his seat.

"Yo," Ichigo said.

"Kurosaki-san," Urahara calmly spoke while he was sitting on the steps to his shop, "I assume you've read the messages?"

"Yeah," replied Ichigo with a frown before he whispered, "so why can't I intervene? And what do you mean by…" Ichigo looked around to make sure he wasn't being heard. When he noticed there was too many people, he sighed and asked Urahara to give him a few minutes.

"Ah, so you've finally got a new girl there and you're busy with…"

"Shut up!" hissed Ichigo while Urahara chuckled on the other line. Ichigo finished the last bits of his spaghetti before he rushed out of the cafeteria with the phone on his ear. Once he passed the entrance to the cafeteria, he spoke, "okay, now tell me what you mean by mystical. Do mean magic?" Ichigo was still whispering as he walked by the many people lingering near the cafeteria. Once he was outside under the night sky, Ichigo sighed and then said, "I'm clear."

"Mystical is exactly what it means," Urahara said as Ichigo continued to walk on the paved sidewalk, "the Hellmouth connects to various Hell dimensions and…"

"There's more than one hell dimension?" Ichigo asked in surprise.

"Just as there are many parts of the Soul Society," Urahara said on the phone. It was something that surprised Ichigo as Urahara continued, "Soul Society is vast. The section of Soul Society you've been to is known as the East Branch, and it's headquarters is in the Seiretei. As you know, we're responsible for managing the flow of souls and purifying Hollows."

"Uh huh," Ichigo said in surprise since he was still processing what Urahara was telling him, "and how many branches are there?"

"Two more," Urahara said before continuing, "the other branch is known as the Western Branch, and it's located in Reverse London."

"Reverse London?" Ichigo whispered as he walked towards a wooden bench and table under a large tree, "Urahara-san, you're kidding right? Reverse London?"

"They're responsible for protecting and domesticating dragons," Urahara said. And Ichigo stopped walking and gaped in shock.

"Dragons? Did you…"

"Come now Kurosaki-san," Urahara said with a chuckle, "you of all people should expect the unexpected."

"I know that," the still stunned Ichigo said, "but dragons?"

"And the Western Branch has their own version of the Gotei 13, called Wing Bind," Urahara said, "met a few in London the last time I was there. Even met a dragon. Hell, I met one of their commanders a few months back when they prevented a rampaging dragon from killing people in Tokyo."

"No way," Ichigo said with eyes wide open in surprise, "then how didn't I… or Rukia… or…. I mean how didn't we know about…"

"We have our roles to play, Kurosaki-san," Urahara said, "we deal with the balance of souls and the purification of Hollows. Wing Bind deals with dragons and recruitment of Witches and Warlocks into their organization."

"Witches and Warlocks?" Ichigo said in surprise before he shook his head and said to himself, "expect the unexpected huh?"

"Exactly Kurosaki-san," Urahara snapped his fingers.

"Okay, fine," Ichigo said running his hand through his hair, "so the other branch of Soul Society?"

"That branch," Urahara said, referring to the vast dimension known as the Soul King Palace, "is classified. But it does exist."

"Fine," Sighed Ichigo shaking his head as he sat down on the bench, "okay."

"As for the vampires and monsters that will inevitably come to Sunnydale due to the energies released by the Hellmouth," Urahara took on a serious tone in his voice, "they are not your concern, Kurosaki-san."

"If they hurt people, and if these things are already dead or… you know… are demons," Ichigo was in disbelief when Urahara told him that they were not his concern, "then I will intervene. You said that Shinigami control the flow of souls to Soul Society, and since vampires are dead already, they have no soul."

"According to my research," Urahara interrupted, "a demon takes over the dead body."

"So when a vampire is killed?"

"The demonic soul is sent back to one of the hell dimensions," Urahara said, "and the same goes for the demons that exist on Earth. But…" Urahara now sighed as he recalled what he found on his research on the Slayer, "it is the responsibility of the Slayer to fight these evils. And if you met a Slayer, then know that she is not the first one that has existed on Earth."

"How many?"

"Many thousands… according to my research, when a Slayer dies, their power is transferred to another who has the potential to become a Slayer," Urahara then took in a deep breath before he summarized what he learned in the archives.

"Thousands of years ago, a group summoned a Shinigami," Urahara continued, "they wanted the Shinigami to help them with a source of endless power which they could mould into a living weapon," said Urahara, "but the Shinigami they summoned refused to help."

"I see," Ichigo said.

"But it was a ruse, they were not looking for a Shinigami to help them in creating this power source," Urahara said while Ichigo narrowed his eyes while placing his arms on the wooden table in front of him, "they wanted to steal the Shinigami's reiatsu – the reiatsu was going to be their power source. They used a mystical crystal to trap the Shinigami and rip out his reiatsu, but in the end they failed. The power was too much for the crystal to contain, and it shattered. And since then, Shinigami have been forbidden to deal with this group."

Ichigo nodded his head before asking, "and this group is called?"

"The Shadow Men," Urahara said while Ichigo nodded his head and asked the former to continue.

"The Shinigami they trapped returned years later" said Urahara recalling what he had read in a report in the archives, "they watched the men in this group of priests force a demon into an unwilling girl… and thus the first Slayer was created."

"They forced…" asked Ichigo with shock registered on his face.

"That's the dark secret of the Slayers, Kurosaki-san," Urahara said, "their abilities all originate from a demon… abilities passed down from one girl to another after their death."

"Damn," Ichigo shook his head in disbelief.

"We all have our roles to play, Kurosaki-san," Urahara said, "the Slayer fights the vampires and demons, and when they die then their power moves on. The Shinigami balances the universe and purifies Hollows, and the Wing Bind protects the world from Dragons by domesticating them while exterminating the ones that go out of control."

"I will help her if I can," Ichigo said in a serious tone of voice.

"Even if the Soul Society tells you not to interfere?"

"Even then," Ichigo smirked.

"Thought so," Urahara chuckled before he looked up at the sky, "get some rest, Kurosaki-san. You should also know that the fact you leak reiatsu like crazy in vicinity of the Hellmouth means that there would also be numerous Hollows moving towards Sunnydale."

"Already met a few last night," Ichigo said when he suddenly stopped talking, got up, and then turned to look out in the distance. He heard a scream… the scream of a Hollow, "Urahara-san, I'll talk to you later. There's a Hollow…"

"Go," Urahara said before cancelling the connection between their phones.

Ichigo closed his eyes and took a deep breath to sense where the Hollow was active. He opened his eyes in shock when he heard the loud scream again and it was coming from the direction of Buffy's house. Reaching into his pocket, Ichigo grabbed the Soul Pill and popped it into his mouth. After he did that, he felt himself being pushed out of his body before he landed on the soft grass in his Shinigami gear with Zangetsu strapped to his back. Turning around, he stared at his physical body now occupied by Kon.

"Go to Buffy's house, Kon," Ichigo said as he turned away and looked out towards the direction of the Hollow's scream, "make sure that she, Mrs Summers, and Dawn stay inside." Ichigo turned his head back towards his physical body as Kon stuffed his hands into his jeans, "Buffy's may be able to ill vampires and demons, but I have no idea what she could do against Hollows. So keep them at home."

Kon then nodded his head before Ichigo flash stepped away. Kon looked around and saw very few people around him as he began stretching his leg muscles before he took off on a run. He ran for few feet before he used his enhanced leg strength to jump up in to the air and towards the Summers home.

 **The Summers Residence, several minutes ago**

"Hi Mrs. Summers" said Tara as Dawn opened the front door and Joyce stepped into the foyer, "You came home early." Joyce nodded her head with a smile before she turned towards Dawn who hugged her tight. Tara held the door open while she reached for a set of keys in a wooden bowl next to the front door while asking, "is everything alright?"

"I had to close up early," Joyce said while Dawn held on to her and pointed a finger at her own head, "I've been having this intense migraine. So I decided to come home and rest. Thanks for watching out for Dawn. Has Buffy called about… you know…?"

"Called about who? Or what?" Dawn asked with a look of confusion on her face.

"Not yet," Tara said shaking her head at Joyce before smiling at Dawn. She looked back up and said, "they're still searching… that's the last I heard when Willow called a few minutes ago."

"Hey," Dawn said waving her hands, "who or what was Buffy supposed to call about?"

"Nothing, munchkin," Joyce said as she ruffled Dawn's hair before telling her to finish her homework, "I'll set up Dinner." Joyce then turned to Tara while Dawn headed for the stairs, "Tara, why don't you join us? I'm sure Buffy and the others will be coming home soon."

"What about Ichigo?" Dawn asked as she reached the third step of the staircase and turned around.

"I asked the front desk at the dorm to connect me to Ichigo's room," Joyce said, "but he either hasn't gotten his phone, or he's not in his room. Either way, I've asked the person on duty at the desk to leave him a message in his mailbox. She then looked over at Dawn and said, "I asked him to join us tomorrow for lunch and dinner."

Dawn nodded her head with a smile before Joyce turned towards Tara who gave the blonde her answer.

"Thanks Mrs. Summers," said Tara as she smiled, "but I have to get going, it's getting quite late and I have to get back to the dorms."

"You sure?" Joyce asked. Tara nodded her head before she reached for the door knob, twisted it, and then waved at Joyce with a smile before walking out onto the porch.

"Walk safe Tara" said Joyce as she closed the door after Tara walked down the stairs. She reached the pebble stone pathway that extended form the steps from the porch to the sidewalk. Tara turned and waved again before turning around just as the door was closed. She reached the sidewalk and then began her five minute stroll to the bus stop. While her arms folded over her chest as a gentle breeze brushed past her, Tara continued her stroll. It was hours ago that she met up with the other Scoobies at Giles' apartment; they then told her about Dracula and the Shinigami that was at the graveyard when Buffy faced Dracula.

Tara hadn't known much about Shinigami's when she was listening to Anya recount her encounter with one- the blonde witch resolved to research more about the beings when she returned back to her dorm after babysitting Dawn since Joyce's gallery received a last minute consignment for a show tomorrow. Joyce told her, over the phone, that it would most likely take her until eleven that evening – but instead, she returned home early complaining about a migraine.

As she was walking down turning left into another street, Tara could feel a presence close by her. She stopped to look around but couldn't see anything so she started walking again. She thought it was just her imagination as she continued to walk. She could already see the faint lights from the main street several meters away – the lights reflecting on the transparent plastic roof of the bus stop. Tara already prepared her defences in the event of a vampire attack; she would cast a spell that would create a smokescreen before she turned and ran as fast as she could back towards the Summers home.

She also had an offensive spell that was already being prepared to be cast in her mind, but she wasn't confident with it. The young woman feared missing her target – a vampire or demon – and then it attacking her.

'Just be calm'Tara kept on thinking to herself as she walked past the various houses of the neighbourhood, 'I'm close. So close.' It was the then Tara heard the sound of an engine, and she took off running. 'The bus. I need to get onto this bus or else I have to wait another fifteen minutes.' There was a part of her telling her to run back to the house, to run as fast as she could towards Buffy's house. Instead she ran faster towards the sound of the bus approaching it's stop.

And then Tara suddenly came to a stop upon hearing the scream. It was ear-splitting, forcing her to cover her ears as she spun around to search for the source. But she couldn't find anything. But it was coming from all around her. The scream stopped, and then suddenly the scream came back. And this time Tara was forced to look up. And Tara wished that she hadn't.

The lights emanating from the tall posts on either side of this section of the neighbourhood lit up the oncoming creature with a white mask that looked like a lean muscular pig. It was falling towards her, it's screams being mixed with the grunts from a pig. Tara's mind was telling her to run… to run as fast as she could. And that's what she did… Tara ran towards the Summers house again.

The scream continued as she ran, and then there was a loud thud. And then a grunt. Unknown to Tara, the creature landed head first where she had just been standing, its mouth... forming the lower section of its white bone mask… was opened wide as it hit the ground. Getting back on its feet, it saw Tara look back at it while spitting out the asphalt.

Tara felt such terror shooting through her body that she forgot to scream. She felt goosebumps on her arms when suddenly there was a shadow that jumped over her. Then there was a crash in front of her and Tara came to a stop after hearing a thud in front of her. She then stumbled back onto the ground as she lay her eyes before the demon in front of her.

"A soul," a deep whiney voice laughed as it took a step towards her, "I smell a delicious soul. I want to eat it!"

Tara could feel it in her heart that this wasn't an ordinary demon. She didn't know why she knew what she knew… but she was terrified. When the demon cried that it wanted to eat her soul, a part of her was terrified… so very terrified.

"Wha… what… a…. are…. Y…. you?" stuttered Tara as she stumbled back while trying to get on her feet, her eyes watching the being in front of her.

"Hungry" said the Hollow as it lunged towards Tara but she quickly dove to one side, slightly skinning her arms on the asphalt before she stumbled up to her feet while the Hollow turned around.

"Hungry" said the Hollow as it started to run towards her.

Her defensive spell already in her mind and prepared to be cast, Tara said, " _Sensus, confundomtor, era, ah, pleator, obscurator."_

Tara ran once the Hollow was surrounded by several layers of thick grey smoke. She could hear it scream out in anger while her legs were burning as she ran. She was breathing heavily as she neared the corner, following which it would another two blocks to Buffy's home.

Just before she reached that corner, Tara heard a loud 'twip' sound. Instinctively, she dove to her left. As she landed on her side, slightly skinning her left arm as she hit the road, she noticed what looked like a pink coloured forked tongue that retracted back into the thick smoke.

Tara, her blouse now slightly covered in dirt, slowly got to her feet as the shadow she could see through the thick smoke turned slightly to face her.

"I don't need to see" said the Hollow in a menacing voice as it walked through the layers of grey smoke, "I can smell you."

" _Incindre"_ shouted Tara, her heart racing, as a burst of flame shot up from underneath the Hollow; it jumped to the left in time, but the small tower of flame singed the lower part of its body. And it screamed in pain.

'So loud,'thought Tara to herself as she stared at the Hollow while covering her ears. She saw the creature scream loudly as if jumped to the right when Tara cast the same spell again. She saw the creature get burned once again, and she gained confidence that she could take care of this demon on her own. She raised both her arms and flicked up her hands in the direction of the demon growling at her, _"Incindre!"_ This time two pillars of fire rose up, followed by another two, and then another two.

Each time the fire burned the demon slightly. 'I have to take care of myself… I have to… I can't always depend on Willow or Buffy. And… and… I can't go back to Buffy's home.' It was something that she just realised, that if she went back to Buffy's home, then the demon attacking could very likely follow her which in turn would place Joyce and Dawn in harm's way.

'It can burn,' Tara thought to herself as she cast one _'Incidre'_ spell after another. The demon was now badly burnt as it jumped back to barely avoid more flames. 'I can do this, I can….' Tara snapped her head up towards the sky as the Hollow jumped upward high into the sky. Tara raised her arms up and cast her spell once again, but this time nothing happened.

'No,' Tara cast the spell again and again while she stepped back. What she thought of as the demon was falling towards her. She tried to cast the spell, but nothing happened, 'what's happening? Why isn't it…?' Deciding not to think about it, Tara ran towards the main street, towards the empty bus-stop. She couldn't lead the demon back to the Summers home, and so she ran as hard as she could.

She ran.

And she ran.

Then there was the loud thud behind her, followed immediately by an unearthly scream from behind her. And then, it was Tara who screamed out in pain from the blood covered forked tongue that penetrated her right shoulder. The pain brought her to her knees and then she looked down at the fork of the tongue which curled around her stabbed and bleeding shoulder before she was pulled back violently. Tara screamed in pain as, like a whip, the tongue shifted to the left and slammed her onto a grass covered lawn.

"I like souls that fight back," the Hollow said as Tara lay on the grass groaning while blood seeped out from her wound while the tongue retracted back into the mouth of, what Tara thought, the demon, "they are more delicious."

Tara stared at the demon through misty eyes. The pain emanating from her wound was too much for her… she wanted to scream, but felt weak to even open her lips. She felt pain wrack through her body as the demon lunged at her. Closing her eyes, Tara waited for the inevitable. 'I am weak', Tara thought to herself, while remembering Willow.

'Willow would have done something different, she would have…'

And then there was a loud thud and then a scream. Tara opened her eyes, expecting the demon to have her in its mask covered mouth. Instead, she was staring at the back of an orange haired young man wearing flowing black robes with cream coloured accents on the straps around his forearms, 'and that's one huge sword.'

"Shinigami!" screamed the Hollow as it got back to its feet after landing on its side some distance away, "I smell the soul of a shinigami"

"Shinigami?" groaned Tara as she, her hand pressed tightly on her wound, stared at the orange haired man's back and recalled what Willow had said earlier that day when she called before leaving to search some abandoned properties for Dracula.

'They take the souls of the dead back to the next life,' Tara thought as she looked at her wound, 'I'm already feeling woozy. Is.. is this because of the blood loss? Is.. is this.. this Soul Reaper here to take me to the next life?'

Tara saw the young man wordlessly reach back and grab the hilt of his sword while the demon rushed towards him. She thought she was seeing things, but Tara could have sworn that the young man flickered for an instant before vanishing and then reappearing in front of the demon while swinging his oversized cleaver shaped sword. Through her hazy vision, she saw the Shinigami's sword tear through the mask from top and then cut through the bottom. She heard the demon scream before it disintegrated.

Tara then breathed a sigh of relief before she closed her eyes. She didn't know how much time passed by the time she felt herself floating in the air. She opened her eyes slightly and saw the orange haired young man, and mumbled, "you're here to take my soul."

Tara then closed her eyes again. She felt exhausted. But she did hear a voice saying, "we're almost at the hospital. You'll be alright."

'Hospital… huh…' Tara lost her chain of thought as she slipped into unconsciousness.

"Damn it," Ichigo mumbled as he reached Sunnydale Mercy. He landed just outside the entrance to the main lobby. The blonde in his arms had gone limp just as he found what he was searching for; an ambulance. He saw three paramedics walking away from the ambulance so he flash stepped to the rear doors, opened it and then placed Tara gently on the gurney in the rear and then he rushed out and tore the door to the driver's side. He then reached in and pressed the buttons that would activate the sirens and the overhead lights.

Jumping back up into the sky, he saw the paramedics rush back to the ambulance to see what was happening. He saw the driver stare in stunned silence as the door lay on the side of the road after being torn from its hinges. Ichigo then turned his head towards the rear of the ambulance where the other two, checking on why the rear door was open, were stunned to find Tara lying on the previously empty gurney. He watched as they quickly got to work before, after a few minutes, he started flash stepping towards the Summers House.

TBC.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Summers Home, Sunnydale.**

Kon was worried as he leapt from one roof to another through the use of his powerful legs in Ichigo's body. He was only two houses away when he felt Ichigo, through the young man's reiatsu, reach the site of the Hollow, and then it was a few seconds later that Kon felt the reiatsu of the Hollow vanish. Reaching the Summers house, he dropped down to the pathway leading to the front porch, his legs bent as they absorbed the impact from the fall, before he stood up. There was no damage to the body he wore as he walked down the pathway before reaching the steps that led up to the porch. Reaching the front door, Kon knocked a few times before he felt Ichigo's reiatsu taking off towards the other direction away from the Summers house. Kon didn't know what was happening, the Hollow was purified and so Ichigo should have been on his way to the Summers home.

'Oh,' Kon thought in surprise while there was a goofy smile plastered on his face as the door opened to reveal a surprised Joyce staring back at him, 'someone could have been injured. And if I know Ichigo, and I do, then he must be taking them to the hospital… or something.'

"Ichigo," Joyce smiled stepping aside, "this is a surprise. Anyway, you're just in time, we're about to have…"

"Mom!" Dawn's voice echoed through the house as Kon stepped into the foyer of the warm home. He heard footsteps coming towards them from the direction of the dining room while Joyce closed the front door, "who is it? Is it Buffy, or…" Kon saw Dawn come to a stop before she gave him a grin and then waved her hand, "hi, Ichigo."

"Hi, Dawn," Kon waved while Joyce finished what she was about to tell him before Dawn interrupted her.

"You're in time for dinner," the Summers matriarch said, "I did try to call but I'm guessing you either don't have a phone yet or you were out."

Kon rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "yep, I don't have a phone yet." Kon wasn't really sure if Ichigo had bought a phone or not, it was just a guess as he chuckled while Dawn grabbed his free hand and then pulled him into the kitchen through the dining room. Once they reached the kitchen, he saw that two plates were set up on the kitchen island while the scent of cooked meat wafted through the air and into his nostrils.

"I… I was actually out," Kon said as he turned his head towards Joyce who entered the kitchen behind him, while Dawn pulled him to the seat that was next to hers. She signalled for him to take a seat, which he did, before Joyce pulled out a plate from a shelf and placed it in front of him. 'Ichigo must have just eaten since I feel full,' Kon thought looking down at the plate, and then he breathed in the delicious smell of whatever was cooking in the oven, 'but I could still eat. Whatever that is, it smells really good.'

"I actually ate but, you know what, I'm still kind of hungry." Kon said licking his lips. Joyce chuckled while Dawn asked him about how he was settling in to his new life in Sunnydale.

"Oh," Joyce said, before Kon could answer, as she crouched down to look through the glass window at the food baking in the oven, "Ichigo, sorry about what happened today. I told Buffy to show you around and…"

"Huh?" Kon looked confused for a few seconds before realizing that something must have happened earlier that afternoon, 'damn it, Ichigo, I need to know these things.'

"Buffy called me about meeting with her boyfriend at the student center book store and… you know… she went off to lunch?" Joyce asked just as Kon opened his eyes wide, pretending to be surprised.

"Oh, yeah," Kon said shaking his head while thinking, 'just pretend.' He then said, "it's alright. We can hang out another time." Kon then decided to change the subject quickly, "where's Buffy?"

"She's… well she's with her friends," Joyce said, and Kon could see the nervousness on her face before glancing over at Dawn who was suddenly finding the top of the island to be very interesting. He wanted to chuckle when suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Shifting his eyes to the left and away from Joyce who was pulling out a tray of hot steaming roast beef, Kon saw Ichigo in his spiritual body nodding his head towards the staircase that led to the second floor. Kon looked away from Ichigo and then stood up.

"Joyce, I need to go and wash-up before we eat," he said pointing upwards with his finger; silently indicating that he needed to go to the restroom upstairs. Joyce nodded her head with a smile before she asked Dawn to help her in getting the large bowl of salad and bread rolls on the counter next to the stove. As Dawn hurried along, Kon walked through the kitchen entrance, and then into the dining room before making a right turn and up the stairs. Once he met with Ichigo in the restroom, Kon whispered, asking if there was anything that happened during his fight with the Hollow, "you took your time getting back here."

"A girl was injured," Ichigo said, "I had to take her to the hospital." Ichigo then nodded towards the door behind Kon, "anything I need to know?"

"You're staying for dinner," Kon replied, "and I think Buffy's out doing that Slaying thing."

Ichigo nodded his head before he concentrated. Lines of blue energy emanated from his spiritual body to his physical one. A few seconds later, the lines of energy connected with his physical and then pulled him in while at the same time the soul pill, Kon, was ejected from his mouth. Ichigo caught the Soul Pill and then stuffed it into his pocket before turning around to look into the mirror. Sighing, he then walked out the door and into the hallway that led to the top of the stairs.

'Buffy, are you facing Dracula right now?' Ichigo thought to himself as he walked down the stairs to the foyer. As he was about to turn around to walk into the dining room, the telephones in the kitchen and the living room rang.

Stepping into the kitchen just as Joyce picked up the phone while Dawn placed a bowl of bread rolls on the island, Ichigo smiled at Dawn who asked if he wanted anything to drink.

"Surprise me," he answered with a shrug before Dawn shrugged her shoulders with a smile on her face. As he was about to take a seat, he and Dawn looked over at Joyce who gasped… her hand over her mouth while her eyes went wide open and blood drained from her face.

A worried Dawn looked over at Ichigo before looking back at Joyce who was speaking on the phone in a quivering voice, "are… are you sure?"

"Mom?" Dawn asked.

"It's the hospital," Joyce said while covering the speaker; the word 'hospital' forcing Ichigo's eyes towards Joyce, "they said that Tara was brought into the hospital by… actually they don't know who brought her in and she has a stab wound."

"What!" Dawn exclaimed rushing to Joyce as the older blonde was whispering back into the phone before hanging up. Ichigo looked away believing this had nothing to do with him while he heard Dawn continue, "how is she?"

"She's been stabbed," Joyce said looking down at Dawn while Ichigo's eyes shifted towards the older woman.

'Stabbed? Could it be that… no…' Ichigo looked away, 'that's too much of a coincidence. This city has tens of thousands of people, it could be anyone.' He recalled the bleeding from the wound on the shoulder of the young woman he carried all the way to the hospital before his caught sight of Joyce approaching the island. He focused on the older blonde as he untied the back of the apron she was wearing.

"Dawn, I'll be going over to the…"

"I'm going with you, mom," Dawn frowned, "it's Tara, if something happened to her then I should be there too and…"

"Dawn, it's a school night and I want you here," Joyce said before turning towards Ichigo with an apologetic look on her face, "it's one of Buffy's good friends. She's been injured and… well… she really doesn't have any family here so…" Ichigo could see the hesitation on Joyce's face as she bit her bottom lip, "could you stay with Dawn? At least until Buffy gets back?"

"I…." Ichigo glanced at the frown Dawn was directing at Joyce while crossing her arms over her chest. She then gave a death-glare his way, silently telling him to say 'no' so that she could go with her mother to the hospital. He gulped before his eyes shifted back towards Joyce ready with an answer, "well, I have to…"

"Mom!" Ichigo released a sigh of relief as a familiar female voice yelled out from the newly opened front door. He could hear the footsteps coming into the foyer while some headed into the living room as Joyce walked towards him, patted his shoulder.

"Saved by the bell," Joyce chuckled before Dawn followed her out of the kitchen while Ichigo hopped of his seat and followed Dawn into the dining room. As he stepped past the threshold from the kitchen and into the dining room, Ichigo heard Buffy saying something akin to "we fought and beat Dra…"

"Oh Buffy," Joyce interrupted the Slayer, and Ichigo hid the smile threatening to form on his face, "we have a guest." Ichigo walked up to and stood next to Joyce, and in front of the surprised Buffy. He waved his hand at the Slayer who released an 'eep' sound from her mouth before she hid something sharp behind her back.

'Was that a stake?' he thought as Buffy smiled at him, then said "hello"; all the while backing away into the living room where four people – a red haired girl, an older man, a dark-haired boy in a black jacket and a blonde haired woman standing next to him, and then he saw the one who was introduced to him as Riley, stood. They turned towards him after closing what looked like a wooden chest; it was something that he didn't see last night – it's sudden appearance made him wonder where they hid it, 'huh, maybe it was hidden somewhere in the study roo at the back of the living room?' The group stood in front of that chest while Ichigo thought to himself while recalling a glint of metal as the chest was being closed, 'I think I saw light reflect off something metallic in the chest. Umm, maybe a weapons chest?'

"Hi, Buffy," Ichigo said putting his hands into his jeans pockets while the redhead in the living room rushed forward. His eyes shifted towards her bright red hair while, out of the corner if his eyes, he could see the others moving the chest away. His eyes then shifted towards Buffy who introduced him the redhead, who happened to be her best friend, named Willow.

"Oh, right, you're the guy from Japan, right?" Ichigo shook Willow's hand, staring into green eyes before looking up at the young man who walked up next to her and introduced himself as Xander, and then the older man introduced himself as Giles. And they were soon followed by the other blonde who introduced herself as Anya.

"Okay, you guys are here," Joyce said after all the introductions were made, her expression etched with worry, "I just got a call from the hospital." Joyce then looked over at Willow who now stood next to Xander while Riley re-introduced himself and shook Ichigo's hand, "Willow, Tara's injured."

"What?" Willow exclaimed, her face in worry.

"She's been stabbed and… and she's been brought to the hospital by someone… and…"

"I need to go… I need to go and…"

"Rupert," Joyce said as she turned towards the worried Giles while Ichigo stood silently and watched their reactions, "can you drive Willow to the hospital?"

"I'll go with you," Buffy gently said placing her hands on Willow's shoulders before the redhead, with tears in her eyes now, looked back at he blonde and hugged her.

"We'll all head back to the hospital," Riley said as he walked towards the front door, and then opened it. Buffy then turned back to the exiting Riley while holding Willow.

"I'll be right out with Willow," Buffy whispered before she looked back at Ichigo, "later?"

Ichigo nodded his head before the others also said that they would be following them to the hospital. Ichigo heard Dawn begging Joyce, telling her that they should be following them as well. Everyone else was now outside, leaving Dawn grasping Joyce's arm with a pleading look on her face and Ichigo rubbing the back of his neck nervously – the latter feeling as if he was a third wheel.

"Ummm…" Ichigo decided to break this awkwardness; he could see that Joyce was deciding between staying at home with Dawn since Buffy and the others returned home, and accompanying them to the hospital, "I should get back to the dorms. This seems more important."

"We have to go, mom. It's Tara," Dawn said looking into Joyce's eyes. Joyce then nodded her head before she head back into the kitchen to make sure that the oven was turned off. While she was in the kitchen, Ichigo smiled at Dawn who had her hands behind her back while giving Ichigo a sad smile.

"Joyce said your friend is going to be alright… I mean that the injury isn't life threatening." Ichigo reminded the brunette. Dawn nodded her head before Joyce rushed into the foyer.

Joyce looked over at Ichigo while grabbing the keys to her Jeep, "I'll drop you off at the dorms, Ichigo."

"Nah," Ichigo waved his hands before putting them back in his pockets, "I can walk. It's a nice night out." Ichigo then shrugged when he noticed the look of worry on Joyce's face. He guessed she was worried that he would be encountering something he shouldn't be- like vampires. So, the substitute Shinigami thought it best to assuage her fear, "anyway, I've been training in martial arts since I was a kid," he could see that Joyce was about to interrupt, but he still continued, "I'm able to fight toe to toe with my best friend, Tatsuki, who happens to be the second strongest fighter in Japan. And I've been fighting bullies who have been making fun of my hair for my entire life." He then shrugged his shoulders again, "I'll be alright."

"Okay," an impressed Dawn waved her hands while she was holding the door open after Joyce reluctantly agreed to have Ichigo head back home on his own, "this isn't the right time for this I know…" Dawn stepped out onto the porch before Joyce, and then Ichigo who closed the door behind him. Dawn then turned around while smiling at Ichigo, "so, are you single or…"

"Dawn," groaned Joyce while she locked the door and Ichigo laughed.

"It was just a question," Dawn mumbled looking away towards the two cars parked in the driveway, one of them was driven by Giles who reversed his car while Buffy, sitting on the passenger side, called out to Joyce and Dawn.

"Sorry, but I've got someone," Ichigo chuckled while Dawn narrowed her eyes at him. At that moment, Joyce put her hand on Dawn's shoulders and said that they had to go. Joyce then looked up and asked Ichigo if he was absolutely sure that they couldn't drive him back to the dorms. Ichigo nodded his head before walking down the steps to the pathway leading to the pavements while Joyce and Dawn head for the Jeep.

As Ichigo stepped on the pavement, he waved at the three cars that drove past him. After the Jeep passing him by, Ichigo put his hands in his pockets once again. As he walked, he didn't sense any Hollows around him, but he still popped the Soul Pill into his mouth and immediately his spiritual body exited his physical body. Even without hollows, he still had a job to do in providing soul burials to any ghost he came across.

"Head back to the dorm's, Kon," Ichigo said before he saw the frown on his face. Ichigo realized that the Mod Soul must be bored staying in the room, so Ichigo sighed before saying, "fine, explore the place but no funny business. Which means I don't want to causing trouble in MY body."

"When have I ever caused trouble in your body?" Kon grinned.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the Mod Soul while thinking, 'really?'. He then said, "how about the first time we met?" Kon then sighed before saying that he wouldn't cause any trouble, but he would intervene if he did see any trouble. Ichigo then reminded him, after nodding his head, "just don't do anything that gets any bad attention."

"Fine," Kon answered.

Ichigo watched Kon jumping up into the air before he himself flash stepped away. The street was now void of human life as Ichigo flash stepped through the air searching for any ghosts that needed to be sent to the Soul Society.

TBC.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sunnydale, the next morning.**

The last thing that Tara felt was the wind brushing her cheeks and her hair sweeping wildly while being carried in the arms of a orange haired Shinigami. She had heard about Buffy's supposed encounter with one when she faced Dracula, but didn't exactly believe it. Shinigami were only myths, they weren't supposed to be real. As she felt sensations returning to her body, Tara felt the soft mattress beneath her, she felt the throbbing pain from her left shoulder where that masked demon had skewered her with its forked tongue. And then she heard a digitized 'Beep beep' sound from her left while there were hushed voices from the right.

"The paramedics said that she just appeared?" a male voice whispered as Tara had her eyes closed. She was so exhausted that she wished she could sleep. Her mind went back to that night while another female voice, one whom she recognized as Buffy, answered in the positive while Tara focused on that orange hair.

Her thoughts ranged from 'who is he?' to 'how did he move so fast?' to 'he can't be the enemy if he saved my life and killed that demon'. Tara recalled that being one worry, that the supposed Shinigami was an enemy.

Her mind then focused on another voice, one Tara recognized as Joyce, as she said, "did you just get back, Riley?"

"Yea, what happened?"

Tara wanted to open her eyes at the sound of another familiar voice, "we're not sure. All we were told was that she just appeared in an ambulance that was supposed to be empty, and that there was a stab wound on her left shoulder. It was bleeding badly, they said that even after the operation, she'd need a lot of physiotherapy… that knife… or whatever it was… cut through her shoulder blade, muscle, nerves…" Tara was in disbelief as she willed herself to open her eyes just as Willow continued, her voice slightly cracking, "but… but they're sure she'll be back to normal… eventually."

"She will, Willow," a voice Tara recognized as Dawn had said in a comforting tone. Tara heard footsteps coming towards her while Dawn was telling Willow that Tara would up and "battling the forces of darkness likity split". The footsteps stopped to her right side and then Tara felt a hand on her forehead, a warm hand that was brushing away the stray hairs she didn't realize were poking on her closed eyelids.

'Wake up,' Tara thought to herself as she remembered the orange haired Shinigami who was carrying her through the air. He didn't seem evil… at least she didn't sense any evil coming from him. But then again, she wondered how she could see him when Buffy, the Slayer, could not. It was another question she shifted to one side for later before she went back to willing herself to wake up.

Just then, Tara heard the door open and more footsteps walking in, followed b he smell of coffee.

"How is she?" the voice Tara recognized as Giles asked while two sets of footsteps were coming towards her.

One was a man, Xander; and the other a woman – Anya. The two of them asked together, "has she woken up?" Tara then heard chuckles from Xander who Tara knew was trying to ease the tension throughout the room.

'Wake up,' Tara mentally told herself before she opened her lips and released a groan.

"Ummmm," Tara head herself groan as she slowly shook her head on the pillow whilst opening her eyes to a bright white light above her. The fluorescent lights behind the Plexiglas panels were bright, but needed to light up the room. She then turned her head slowly to her right upon hearing Anya say that she was waking up. Tara gave a small smile as a mop of red hair dashed forward and held her hand. Through blurry vision, Tara smiled wider as she looked up at the green eyes of her girlfriend, "hey."

"Hey," Willow whispered before leaning forward and kissing Tara on her forehead and then leaning back. As Willow stood up while one hand was wiping the tears in her eyes, the other hand held on to Tara's hand. It was then, as Buffy and the other approached her, that Tara looked down her body to see her left arm in a cast, the cast in a sling that was meant to keep the arm steady while the shoulder healed.

Tara looked back up at her friends and smiled as she took in a deep breath; she listened to a cacophony of questions from all of them while Joyce and Giles looked on with relief etched on their faces.

"What happened?"

"How were you?"

"where were you injured?"

"How did you get to the hospital?"

"Do you know who you are?"

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"You are in the Twiliiiiight Zoooone."

These were some of the questions being asked over the other questions; with Anya glaring at Xander over the Twilight Zone statement. Tara couldn't help but giggle at the concern on the faces of her friends. It wasn't long before both Giles and Joyce asked everyone to settle down.

"How are you feeling, Tara?" Willow asked, concern etched in her voice, "are you in pain or…"

"Just a little throbbing pain," Tara whispered, her voice scratchy before she asked for some water. Dawn rushed to the jug of clear liquid on the left bedside table and poured some water while Giles was asking if she was going to be able to give them at least a brief run-down of what happened. Tara nodded her head on the bed just as Dawn handed the glass of water to Willow, who then brought the straw in the cup to Tara's lips. The blonde witch sucked in the liquid, as she felt relief as she swallowed… feeling the coolness from the water permeating throughout her whole body as it went down her throat.

Tara sighed as Willow pulled the straw away before she handed it to Buffy who was standing next to Tara's head. The blonde Slayer placed in on the nearby table as Tara slowly explained what happened. To say that the Scoobies were shocked would be an understatement – an unknown masked demon attacked Tara to eat her soul, a Shinigami appeared and saved her, and the very same Shinigami rescued her.

"What did this Shinigami look like?" Anya asked with a look of expectation on her face that slightly unnerved Xander. Tara noticed that look from Anya, but didn't know why she was so eager and why Xander was so worried. Instead, she said that the Shinigami had orange hair and brown eyes.

"That's all I remember before passing out and…" Tara's eyes went wide open when she realized she forgot the most glaring part of the Shinigami who saved her, "he had a sword. It kinda looked like a giant cleaver that rested on his back."

Buffy nodded her head before turning towards Giles who was rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Giles?"

"Well, there have only been textual entries based on myths about Shinigami, or rather Death Gods, ," Giles said, "or in some cultures they're called grim reapers…"

"He wasn't grim, and he wasn't carrying a scythe, Mr. Giles," Tara added. Giles nodded his head before Anya said that the Shinigami who rescued Tara didn't fit the description of the one who she had met so many years ago. It was a surprise to Tara who made a mental note to ask Anya about it later; but her statement did bring up the possibility that there were more than one Shinigami.

"So, this guy's a good guy then?" Xander shrugged, "I mean, he did kill the demon thing that injured Tara, and he then brought her to the hospital."

"But why not just bring her into the hospital lobby," Dawn asked as Willow continued to hold Tara's hand, the redhead's thumb rubbing small circles onto the top of Tara's hand, "I mean, what if there were no paramedics nearby. Tara could have died."

Tara looked at the distraught face looking back at Dawn with a small smile before saying, "Buffy said that she couldn't see him. So it's possible that no one could, and it would be strange he carried me into the emergency room. I mean, I would know he was carrying me, but everyone else would see me floating in the air."

"Maybe he saw those paramedic nearby and knew they would check out what was happening if he turned on the siren," Joyce said as she recalled what the paramedics who rushed back to the ambulance said last night, "but if Buffy couldn't see him, then how could you?"

"Good question," Buffy asked with a frown on her face, "I mean, I should be able to see this Shinigami, right?"

"Maybe you need a special ability or something?" Riley asked, his arm now draped over Buffy's shoulder, "I mean Tara's a witch so… maybe it has something to do with magic?"

"My Slayer abilities are based on magic," Buffy said as she turned towards Giles who was still rubbing his chin while his eyes were looking as if he was staring at some far off object, "right?"

"Huh?" Giles snapped out of it upon hearing Buffy's question. He turned towards her and asked, "did you say something, Buffy?" Giles quizzical look told Buffy that he was distracted with thought in his head about the existence of Shinigami and how useful they could be to a Slayer's mission. So when Buffy once again pointed out that her powers were based in Magic, as were the powers of the two witches, then why was it that she couldn't see the Shinigami when she faced Dracula.

"Because according to Dracula, the Shinigami was there," Buffy said.

That was a question that Giles didn't have the answer to. Why would it be that Buffy couldn't see the Shinigami, but Tara and Anya could, "maybe it has something to do with how much interaction you have with magic?" Giles' statement was more as a question as he took off his glasses and turned away from Buffy, "it could b anything. I mean, Anya was a demon when she saw a Shinigami and… well, we could assume that demons can see them since… well… they're demons."

"that doesn't really answer any questions," Xander deadpanned.

Giles shrugged before saying there was no way to know why Tara saw the Shinigami and Buffy didn't. He then turned to Tara and asked about the demon, "do you think you can identify it?"

"I can try…" Tara said before continuing, "all I remember is that it had the body of a large pig… its white mask was… I mean…" Tara shook her head before Willow intervened to say that Tara needed to rest.

Tara then shook her head before saying, "I've been resting for hours, Will."

Willow turned back towards Tara and gave a small smile before nodding her head, "maybe we could check the more obscure demon lore. There could be something there if this demon you faced is so.. well... strange."

"That thing…" Tara whispered, her eyes shifting towards the ceiling as she thought about the demon, "it just evaporated after the Shinigami killed it. It was weird."

Tara sighed before looking back at Willow, and then at the others before saying, "maybe I'll see the Shinigami again and ask him why I and Anya, apparently, can see him." She then sighed before saying, "I'm hungry." Willow and the others chuckled before Xander said she was unconscious for hours and that it was already nine in the morning.

"I'll call a nurse," Joyce said before she left the room.

"Maybe Ichigo would know something about Shinigami since he'd from Japan?" Dawn asked.

"Just because he's from Japan doesn't automatically mean he knows about these things," Buffy said with Giles nodding in agreement as Tara stared at Buffy.

"That's the student you're playing host to, right?" Tara asked.

Buffy nodded her head before asking Willow to check the internet for everything she could find about Shinigami. She then looked away and towards the others before saying they need to hit the books and find out all they could about Shinigami, "and if there is any way to stop them if they start targeting humans."

"They usually take souls to the afterlife," Anya reminded Buffy.

"Just in case," Buffy said, "just in case, I want a way to stop him." The others nodded their heads while Willow leaned forward and kissed Tara's forehead, the group relieved that their friend was going to be okay.

 **Ichigo's dorm room.**

In the meantime, Ichigo groaned as the alarm next to his bed started to beep. He was lying face down on his pillow as he reached out, felt around for the alarm clock, and then slammed his hand down on the button that silenced the alarm. With his room remaining cool thanks to the air-conditioning, Ichigo just wanted to stay in bed. Opening one eye, he groaned upon seeing the red coloured digits that spelled out the current time before he closed his eye and groaned.

It was a long night. Ichigo had purified four hollows, and gave soul burials to seven lost men and women who already had very few links left on their soul-chains. One of them he had found near the site of the former High School, a woman by the name of Jenny Calendar who was nervous about seeing him coming up to her with the large sword in his hand. She asked if he was going to send her away.

Ichigo nodded his head.

Jenny then asked about where she would be sent to, and all Ichigo told her was that her soul would be at peace. Ichigo was surprised to know that Jenny had known Giles when she was alive, and she had even known Buffy. He had a lot of questions about Giles, Buffy, and the other Scoobies that she mentioned, but the chain on her chest was already too short. She could become a hollow at anyone moment. So, after Jenny asked him to watch over Buffy and the others, Ichigo gave her a soul-burial and watched as her soul was then carried out into the heavens with a hell-butterfly flapping its wings next to it.

Jenny was the last Soul-burial last night before he made it to his dorm. BY the time he got back, Kon was already in the room inhabiting his body. Popping the soul-pill out of his physical body, Ichigo slipped back in into his physical body and placed Kon into the lion plushie. He then, while thinking about Watchers and Slayers, went to sleep.

And now, he was awake with a mind still curious about Slayers and what they do. Then, he remembered what Urahara had told him, that demons and the stuff of darkness and nightmares were the responsibilities of the Slayers. The Hollow and their purification were the responsibilities of a Shinigami.

'If she needs help, then I'll help… but what good would it do if she can't see me?' Ichigo thought as he rolled onto his back just as the phone on his table started to ring. Ichigo sighed before he hopped off the bed, his feet hitting the carpeted flooring before he strode to his table and picked up his phone.

Ichigo flipped the phone open and accepted the incoming picture message. He smiled as the picture of Inoue alongside Tatsuki, Sado, a glum Uryu who had his arms across his chest with Keigo's elbow on his shoulder; and the picture finishing off with Mizuiro giving the victory sign towards the camera. His eyes skimmed each and every one of his friends before settling down on Inoue's face. He had a slight smile on his face before putting down the phone on the table.

He couldn't wait to see Inoue and the others again. Ichigo would be the first to admit that he wasn't the romantic kind, but he couldn't wait to hold Inoue's hand again. He thought about leaving his physical body for a day so that he could use flash-steps all the way to Karakura Town, but then he thought about what Inoue would say or do.

'She would give up going to Tokyo and probably come her to the US,' Ichigo thought, 'going there has been her dream, and I can't have her give it up. Not for me.' Ichigo took one last look at the picture before the screen on the phone dimmed. He then sighed, rubbed the back of his head, and walked towards the shower. He needed to start the day, 'before that, I'll call Inoue after my shower.'

TBC.


	9. Chapter 9

**U.C, Sunnydale.**

With his hands in his pockets, Ichigo walked under the bright sunlight as he exited the student center. He wanted to explore the campus and while it would be easier to simply slip out of his body and explore with his spiritual body, Ichigo thought it better if he moved around like every other normal person. At the same time, as he walked down the steps to the walkway that led away from the student center and past trees and wide areas of grass which were themselves divided by more connected walkways, his mind wandered to Orihime and missing Karakura Town and all his friends.

He spoke with her that morning on the phone after taking a shower. He had wanted to flash step all the way to Karakura Town… it would have been relatively simple affair. He even messaged Orihime that he was going to visit her in his spiritual body.

And she called back almost immediately after the message was sent.

"Kurosaki-kun," Orihime had said in that sweet voice of hers as Ichigo sat on his bed after taking his shower earlier that morning. Her voice in his ear though the phone caused his heart to race as every detail of her face formed in his mind. He ran his left hand through his damp hair as Orihime continued speaking, "I miss seeing you too, but I can't have you coming back here whenever I miss you… or whenever you miss me." Ichigo was about to interrupt and say that it wouldn't be that long to travel to and from Sunnydale to Karakura Town. Instead, he listened in silence as Orihime, her voice slightly cracking, said, "and I really miss you. You haven't been gone for so long and I miss you very much."

"But…" Ichigo managed to say during a pause in the conversation. He wanted to say that he missed her to and that there was a part of him that regretted coming to Sunnydale when he could have simply stayed there and worked.

However, he wasn't able to continue when he heard a sob on the other line before Orihime spoke once again.

"Tatsuki-chan said that we'll have to live through this withdrawal…"

"Withdrawal?" Ichigo asked confused.

"She said I'll be talking and thinking about you non-stop for many days," Orihime chuckled before sniffling over the phone. "She said you'll be going through it too… actually, what she said was that you better be going through some sort of withdrawal or else she'll get on the next plane to America and then she'll beat you up."

Ichigo laughed, as did Orihime. However, in the back of his mind, Ichigo was very aware that Tatsuki would really get on a plane to beat him up.

"I'm still thinking about you, Hime," he said, ending with the pet name for Orihime, "I wake up and think of you… I go to bed and I think of you. I think of home too. Yuzu, Karin, and Dad… Sado, Uryu… everyone else… I miss them all. Especially you."

"I'm going to your house for dinner tomorrow" Orihime said over the phone, "your father invited my aunt too."

For hours, the two talked about everything under the sun from Ichigo feeling homesick when he woke up, to having met Dracula during his patrol that first night, to all the hollow he purified, to the Summers family, and then he ended the conversation with how Buffy was a Slayer and how her friends helped her out. He could hear in Orihime's voice that she was excited about Ichigo having met Dracula and about Buffy being a Slayer.

"Wait, what's a Slayer?" was Orihime's next question. And Ichigo explained what he learnt from Urahara before they spoke for a few minutes longer. Once Orihime started yawning, Ichigo knew it was time to let her go and get some sleep. Once he put the phone away, Ichigo then got dressed to take on the morning. A part of him felt glad that he was able to talk to Orihime… she was a reminder of home.

 **Now.**

Ichigo continued walking the crowded campus; many students were still registering as he walked past stalls selling food and handing out pamphlets for one on-campus organization after another. He had to do a double-take at the stall where there were people dressed in the garb of popular Manga.

Looking away, he continued walking through the crowds; the sound of voices around him along with the smell of food being cooked made him think back to the last Winter Festival in Karakura Town. He even half expected to find Orihime by his side.

Chuckling as he continued walking, Ichigo mentally told himself that he was never usually the romantic type. However, after the battle with Ginjo, Ichigo felt that there was something missing in his life. Fully accepting his place as a substitute Shinigami didn't help in filling that hole… at least not until he was sitting next to Orihime at the picnic after having buried Ginjo following the return of his body from Soul Society.

His mind remained on the sound of Orihime's voice as he continued walking when he felt someone tapping his shoulder. Turning around, he arched his eyebrows in surprise when a sunglass wearing Buffy, with Riley, Xander and Willow next to her, said that they had seen him walk past one of the stall where they were getting T-Shirts and had been calling for him as loudly as possible.

"And then I had to tap your shoulder!" Buffy yelled out over the noise from the crowd while tapping Ichigo's left shoulder.

It was then that Riley leaned towards Ichigo and said, "maybe we should get out of here. It's too loud, and we were heading for your apartment." Riley leaned back and nodded towards the dorms in the distance before continuing, "wanted to know if you wanted to get some lunch."

Ichigo nodded his head. He was so deep within his memories of home and Orihime that he forgot the sun was high up in the sky.

'It's noon, or a little after noon,' Ichigo thought to himself before asking if they had any place to suggest. Xander jumped in and said that they were going to get some lunch from one of the nearby stalls and then head to a quiet part of the UC Sunnydale campus where they could actually enjoy themselves.

After the group of them grabbed some lunch, they then found a spot under the shade of a tree far away from the crowds of new and current students enjoying themselves. Ichigo was seated next to Xander who was seated next to Willow on the same bench, and across from the table was Buffy with Riley seated next to her as they spoke about their day and the plans for later on. Of course, there was no mention of Slaying; but Ichigo could guess from Buffy saying she had to work later that night meant that there would be some slaying of demons and vampires.

Ichigo nodded his head before turning towards Xander who brought up, out of the blue, a 'story' he read about Shinigami.

"Xander," Willow frowned at him with a look of disbelief. Ichigo couldn't help but chuckled as Buffy then joined in to say that Xander's report on the myths and legends of Japan would have to wait. She then looked back towards him with an apologetic expression while Riley shrugged. Ichigo didn't now what to say – and it was not because Buffy and the other thought he knew about Shinigami because he was Japanese. Instead, he was wondering if there was a possibility that one of their group could have seen him as a Shinigami.

'Buffy's powers are supposed to be magical… or rather demonic in nature,' Ichigo thought to himself as he turned towards Willow who 'whacked' her palm against Xander's back. Ichigo laughed at the pained expression on Xander's face while continuing to think, 'so if there is anyone here who could see me, then it would have to be her.' Ichigo then remembered the other night when he was standing next to Buffy in his spiritual form, 'and she didn't see me.' He then looked away from Xander and Willow, 'I haven't been around her other fiends in my Shinigami form so…'

"It was a good question!" Xander cried out, bringing Ichigo away from his thoughts which were focusing on if it was possible for people like witches to see him in his Shinigami form.

'Dracula was able to see me,' Ichigo thought to himself as he turned towards Xander asking him if there was anything he could tell him about Shinigami for a report for a history class he was taking at the Community College.

"I started my classes two weeks ago," Xander added – Ichigo could see he was a little nervous – before he looked towards Willow who narrowed her eyes at Xander before nodding her head. She then turned towards Ichigo and said that she was curious too and that she hoped he didn't feel as if he was being taken advantage of by the two of them.

'Dracula did say I'm a Shinigami,' Ichigo thought to himself as he nodded his head at Willow and Xander, 'I wouldn't be surprised if Buffy went back home and asked around about me. Maybe these guys have a lair of some kind like the superhero groups on television… maybe some of them do research.'

"Sure," Ichigo said, his mind focusing on what to say and what not to reveal about the Shinigami, "what do you want to know?"

 **Sunnydale Mercy Hospital; at that same time.**

"So, this thing said that it wanted to eat your soul?" Giles asked from the table across the bed where Tara was sitting upright with book of various assizes all around her, "and it didn't look like any demons in the lore?"

"Nope," Tara answered closing a book of demons so obscure that the majority were extinct. She then placed it to her left with her left hand, since her right shoulder was injured and the entire arm in a new cast and sling, before saying, "I'm done with this one." Tara watched as Giles put aside the book he was reading, took off his glasses, and then rubbed his eyes before shaking his head. She chuckled as she looked around the mess on either side of her – books and scrolls were either open or closed all around her – before looking back towards Giles, "it said it could smell my soul."

"And you hit it with a spell?"

"I did," Tara said, "barely slowed it down. I mean the spell burned it, and it did scream out in pain and… well… I actually think it got even angrier after that." She then pointed at her injured arm, "it stabbed me with its tongue after that."

Giles sighed while rubbing his forehead before standing up and stretching his arms over his head. The older man said that there wer demons that used tongues as weapons, "but the ones you've already seen are more or less humanoid in appearance."

"And they don't have a mask that looks like a pig," Tara said as Giles walked over to the window and stared out into the sunlit garden the room was facing, "maybe this demon isn't in any of the books?"

"I honestly cannot say," Giles whispered before turning around and leaning against the window sill, "I don't have access to the Watchers Archives in the Council since I've been fired. But I have reached out to Wesley in LA, maybe he and Angel have some knowledge about what this demon."

Tara nodded her head before looking away towards the books around her. She hoped that Wesley, who she had heard about from Willow and Xander, would have something to give them. That night terrified her… that demon terrified her; especially with how its high-pitched voice yelled out that it ate souls.

"And that Shinigami… or Soul Reaper, killed it," Tara said shaking her head before turning towards Giles, "I guess I'm really lucky. It could have been worse."

"Your description of the Reaper… reddish orange hair, a giant cleaver shaped sword on his back…" Giles rubbed his chin as his mind went to Ichigo who happened to be the only one he had been introduced to with reddish orange hair. But just as he thought about it, that thought was gone, 'Reapers are supposed to be creatures of nature according to the books and Anya. They take souls to the afterlife. And Ichigo is most definitely human.'

"And that's strange though," Tara said before Giles turned towards her, "Buffy wasn't able to see the Reaper… I mean t here's no way to know if it was the same Reaper who saved my life."

"And…." Giles stopped talking when he came to a realization. Tara was able to see the Reaper but buffy was not, "but Dracula was able to see him. Buffy said she felt something, and may have seen a very faint shadow…"

Tara recalled Buffy's description of that first night facing off against Dracula in the cemetery before saying, "she said that it could have been a trick of the light."

"So how could you and Dracula see him, and Buffy could not," Giles finished Tara's thought with a thoughtful look of his own, "this is perplexing."

"And Anya saw one… and she saw a strange demon too that night in Norway," Tara reminded Giles.

"There's a lot more we need to research on," Giles said just as the door to the room opened. In walked a nice who nodded at Giles before continuing to place the tray she was carrying onto a table. She then pushed the table towards Tara while staring at the books laying all around the blonde.

"A lot of reading?" the nurse said as she maneuvered the wheeled table in such a way that the covered tray of lunch was over Tara's thighs. Tara chuckled before saying she had very eclectic tastes in books. The nurse glanced at the one of the books and then looked up with an arched eyebrow before saying, "Advanced Demonology?"

"Very eclectic interest," Giles said to the surprised nurse who then nodded her head at the two of them before telling Tara to enjoy her lunch. Once the door closed, Tara lifted the cover from the plate of food. The steam trapped inside the cover escaped while Giles said that he was going to go back to his apartment so that he could freshen up before having some lunch.

"I'll bring back more books," Giles said while slipping his hands into his pockets, "there has to be some information about the demon you saw last…" Before he could finish, Tara snapped her head towards the window and narrowed her eyes. Giles looked out the window to see nothing just before he heard Tara ask if he heard that sound. Confused, Giles turned towards Tara and asked, "what sound?"

Tara was surprised that Giles didn't hear that inhumane roar. It shook her to the bones; that's how loud it was.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

There it was again. A high pitch inhumane scream that ended in a growl. And it wasn't coming from anywhere close… Tara could sense it was from far away but within Sunnydale.

"How didn't you hear that?" Tara asked with eyes wide open in shock, "it's so loud."

Giles stepped towards the bed before walking around it. He stopped by Tara's side and tried to listen if there was anything usual. Instead, he saw Tara snap her head towards the window with a look of fear.

"There," she whispered before turning her head towards Giles once again, "I heard it again."

"I didn't hear anything," Giles insisted, "what does it sound like?"

"A scream… and then… there it is… that same loud scream…. More like a roar," Tara said, "I… I think it sounds louder… much louder than the thing that attacked me last night."

Giles opened his eyes wide in stunned silence.

"It's happening again… to someone else, Mr. Giles."

Giles hated to be helpless, but that was what he felt now. He couldn't hear a single thing… there was just silence as Tara stared out the window. Their eyes met when she turned away from the window and towards him with a look of fear on her face.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"I have no idea," was the only reply Giles could manage. And it was the truth, he had no idea what was happening. He trusted Tara, so he was certain that she wasn't simply hearing things. Just as he was about to say that he could try contacting the Watcher's Council or the Coven in Devon for aid, Tara gasped and then turned towards the window once again. Giles was worried, and it could be heard in his voice when he asked, "Tara, what is it?"

"It roared again… but this time the roar was cut off," Tara said, her eyes still on the window, "like something stopped it mid-way."

"Perhaps Buffy got to whatever it was?" Giles asked.

"Or maybe the Soul Reaper did?" Tara asked as she looked back towards Giles, "and if it was, then what did the Reaper just kill?"

That was a question that rang in Giles' ears before making the decision to contact the Devon Coven for information. He needed to know whose side the Reaper was on, and he hoped that Agatha Harkness from the Coven would be able to help.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**Near Student Center.**

Just as he asked what it was that Xander wanted to know, Ichigo felt a cold chill up and down his spine. And immediately after that sensation, there was a loud inhuman scream that came from the direction where they had just come from. It was the location of the stalls that were set-up on the U.C Sunnydale campus near the Student Center.

'Hollow!' Ichigo thought to himself as he looked over his shoulder to the crowd of people; men, women, and some children as well - all of whom were milling around the various stalls. He looked back at Buffy and the others who continued speaking without any interruptions. Ichigo could see and hear Xander asking a question about the Shinigami and if they were good or evil while his mind was racing away trying to come up with a good excuse to leave. Ichigo knew he didn't have time for answering any questions; if there was a Hollow in the vicinity, he really had to excuse himself before the Hollow killed anyone.

"I…."

And then there was another scream… the scream was so loud that Ichigo missed Xander's question. However, the scream from the Hollow was closer this time. Before Ichigo could do or say anything, it was Willow who surprised him by turning her head towards the direction of the Hollow's screams; towards the crowd of people near the student center a few hundred meters behind him. He glanced at the look of shock on Willow's face before looking away and staring at the table. He then looked up at Riley who was asking him about where the legends of the Shinigami began. Ichigo was ignoring those questions while he glanced at the shock on Willow's face. Her eyes were staring at the crowd behind him, and just as she shifted her gaze towards him, Ichigo looked away.

"RAWWWWWWWGGGGGHHHHH!" Ichigo widened his eyes slightly before he looked up to see Willow standing up before slightly trembling in fear. She continued to stare at the crowd. Her gaze turned towards the left in the direction of the roar while Ichigo was thinking, 'did she hear the Hollow or was she staring at something else?'

"Did anyone hear that?" Willow asked before everyone turned towards her; everyone except for Ichigo who was still staring at the table. He knew that a Hollow this close to campus was dangerous, and he needed to do something. Also, Willow's question confirmed that she had heard that scream… which also meant there was the possibility he could be seen by the redhead in his spiritual form.

And it brought about another question, 'how can she hear the Hollow's screams when not even Buffy can?' And then there was another scream from the Hollow… it was getting closer. 'But that doesn't matter now,' Ichigo thought to himself as he glanced at Willow still looking towards the direction of the scream, 'lives are at stake.'

Before anyone could say anything, Ichigo got up off his seat and said, "I've got to go to the washroom, I'll be right back." And then there was another scream… a scream that turned into a loud roar that sounded as if the Hollow was closer than before. Not wanting to waste any time, Ichigo apologized again before he huddled over while placing his hands on his abdomen. With pain – fake pain – etched in his face, Ichigo said that there must be something wrong with the fries.

"Really?" Xander said with a quizzical expression before reaching out and grabbing a couple of fries and then biting down. As he chewed, he said, "nope, the surface is still crunchy and the insides soft and fluffy." Ichigo, his face still etched in fake pain, then apologized took off running towards the building several meters in front of him. He ran towards the side entrance of the student center.

"Wait!" Willow yelled getting up from her seat when she noticed the direction Ichigo was headed. The roar was coming from there. Willow could feel it in her very soul that it was dangerous to stay where they were sitting. She felt a chill go through her bones when she realized that the others were staring at her with puzzled expressions on their faces before there was another roar; why couldn't Xander, Buffy, and Riley hear the roar. She then turned her head towards Buffy and said, "Buffy, there's.." Another roar, and this time it was so close. Willow looked up at the student center while she remained standing. She narrowed her eyes at seeing a shimmer in the air, she could just make out an outline of… well, something… while she spoke, "I hear this really bad…"

"BOOOOOM!" The Scoobies stumbled away from the table and the student center just as the side of the building exploded. Willow and the other Scoobies watched in horror as the crowd started to disperse while ash and dust rose up into the air and large chunks of debris were falling back onto the ground… specifically into the crowd of panicked and screaming people. Many in the crowd were running their way while others were running away into the other direction.

"Riley!" Willow heard Buffy yell out, "call the police!"

It was Buffy's voice that brought Willow out of her own thoughts. She, Xander, and Buffy then rushed towards the Quad where the stalls, many of which were flattened into pieces thanks to the large chunks of debris that once used to be the side of the building, were located. They could hear the cries of people who were fearful and panicking around them while the Scoobies continued to run towards the danger. There were even more people rushing out from the side entrances of the Student Center.

After seeing the flow of people fleeing the five story building, Willow then looked up at the shimmer while she continued running; ad suddenly she had a feeling of dread – she thought she saw an outline of an arm with claws. And then… all of a sudden just as the arm was about to swing down – she saw a black blur pass right by the simmer and then land onto the grass a few meters away.

Willow heard a thud, and then a scream of pain. "Shinigami!"

The redhead stopped as her eyes locked onto the figure standing on the grass looking up at the shimmer. She couldn't see the figure's face; all she could see through the panicked people running around and the falling debris was orange hair and a black robe. She could see the large cleaver-like sword in the figure's right hand.

There was another roar while Willow felt Buffy holding her arm and calling her name.

"Willow!" Buffy yelled.

But Willow couldn't answer. She felt an oppressive atmosphere falling down on her. She was finding it difficult to breathe as her heart raced… it was thundering away in her chest. She heard Xander's voice calling for her, she heard Riley calling out, "Willow!? Buffy what happened?"

"She just froze!" Willow heard Buffy yell.

The oppressive feeling was getting worse. It was pressing down in her shoulders. Willow felt as if this feeling was trying to push her onto her knees… but she forced herself to remain standing. She felt compelled to looked at the shimmer… she didn't know how long it had been… it felt like hours as she shifted her eyes toward the shimmer. And what she saw caused her breathing to quicken as a wave of fear took her over. It was a masked creature, 'or a demon, is that a demon?' it looked nothing like the masked demon in Tara's description of the attack on her.

No, this one was larger. It was as tall as the Student Center. It had a mask that looked as if it was smirking at the robed figure before it turned its massive head towards Willow. At the same time, it used one of its massive blue tinted arms to swipe at the figure as it launched an attack. The figure landed on the grass once again as he raised his sword towards the demon.

"A delicious soul! So many souls to eat!" the demon screamed as it stared directly at Willow. Willow then glanced at the figure in the black robe. The screaming and panicked people were gone now. The quad was empty with only shattered remained of the stalls, large and small chunks of debris, as well as torn posters that advertised food and the various clubs and activities in the university, were strewn all around on the grass. And then Willow's eyes settled on the surprised face looking at her. She locked her eyes with the eyes on the familiar face of the robed figure in the quad.

'Ichigo,' Willow thought to herself before she saw him flicker slightly. And then there was another scream of pain. Suddenly the oppressive atmosphere around her was gone. She felt as if it was easy to move and breathe. And so, Willow turned her head towards the monster as a black streak moved across its thick neck while it swiped its single arm at Ichigo just a second too late. All the while Willow felt Buffy shaking her arm while Xander was shaking her shoulder. Willow realized she hadn't responded to them when they asked if she was alright.

"Yeah, I… I just thought I heard something," Willow whispered as she watched Ichigo appear out of thin air at the Quad. She gulped… she didn't know whether to feel relief or a slight fear at the orange haired young man looking back at her. He was the Shinigami they were looking for… Tara did manage to give a brief description of the Soul Reaper who saved her, but she was drifting on and out of consciousness for her description to be accurate. 'Are you the one who saved her? Why didn't you say anything?'

Ichigo then flickered and before Willow knew it, he was gone. Vanished into the wind.

Willow turned her head towards Buffy and nodded her head, "I'm fine, Buffy."

"What happened?" Xander asked with worry in his voice.

Willow then explained what she saw and felt – leaving out Ichigo's involvement for now, at least until she could talk to him. What she and the others were worried about was that the Soul Reaper they were searching for could be evil. 'But Ichigo saved people,' as she spoke Willow looked around and saw that there were no dead or injured people, 'I think he stopped something worse from happening. What was that demon?' By the time she stopped talking, Willow observed the surprised expressions on the faces of her close friends.

"An invisible monster that we couldn't hear or see…" Buffy asked while motioning towards the destruction in front of them with her right arm, "but you can. And the Soul Reaper…"

"I just saw his black robe," Willow said rubbing the back of her head while they continued walking towards the quad and the debris that littered it, "I couldn't get a good look at him because of the panicked people running away, but he used this huge sword to kinda kill the demon."

"Okay," Xander said as he looked around before turning back towards the redhead, "he still here?"

"How could only you see this monster and the Soul Reaper?" Riley asked Willow who shook her head while shrugging her shoulders. Willow then said that he wasn't there in the quad with them. They were now standing in the middle of the quad facing the side of the student center.

The four scoobies could only stare in bewilderment at the huge chunk of the building's corner which looked to have been sheared off. They could stare into the inside of the top four storeys of the five-story building.

Willow gulped before saying, "that demon was about to attack again before the Soul Reaper cut off what I assume was one of the demon's arms."

Buffy then looked at Willow and said, "the demon just crumbled away?"

"Yeah," Willow replied nodding her head.

"Umm…" Riley said looking round before turning towards the damaged building while sirens were wailing in the background, "where's Ichigo?"

And just as he mentioned Ichigo's name, Willow and Buffy turned around at the sound of the side door, which was a few meters away, opening and Ichigo rushing out. He ran out while looking around before finding them standing at the Quad. "Hey!" he yelled while running over, "what happened?" Willow listened as he yelled out, "I was in the washroom when the whole building shuddered." Stopping in front of the Scoobies, his back to the great big hole in the corner of the Student Center, Ichigo continued speaking rapidly, "there was something like the sound of an explosion but I was… well… I wasn't feeling so good, plus I was kinda scared to leave."

'Right,' Willow thought to herself as Ichigo chuckled nervously.

"So, what happened?" he asked before Xander pointed towards the building behind him. Ichigo then whispered, "that's not good." Turning around, he then asked, "was there a gas leak?" Ichigo's eyes then met with Willow's eyes for a second before looking away.

"We don't know," Riley said just as the sirens got closer and closer, "I'm sure the authorities will investigate what happened."

"Yep," Buffy said.

"How about we go get something to eat, maybe off-campus," Ichigo said as he looked at Buffy and then at Xander, "I'll try to answer any questions you have about…" Ichigo turned his head towards Riley and then to Willow before ending with, "the Shinigami."

Willow nodded her head while her mind raced to come up with what questions to ask. In the meantime, Buffy nodded her head before asking if Ichigo wanted to accompany them to the Espresso Pump.

"Sure," Ichigo replied.

TBC.


End file.
